Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 98,000 in March, a decline from February’s downwardly revised figure of 219,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate moved down to 4.5%. The majority of gains occurred in professional and business services and in mining.
Private-service providing industries added a net 61,000 jobs, led by gains in professional and business services, which added 56,000 jobs during the month, and by health care and social assistance, which added 17,000 jobs this month.
Goods-producing employment rose by 28,000 jobs during the month, as gains in mining led the way by adding 11,000 jobs.
The civilian labor force participation rate was 63.0%, unchanged from February. The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, was little changed at 1.7 million and accounted for 23.3% of the unemployed. The number of discouraged workers was 460,000, down from a year earlier.
Average hourly earnings increased by 5 cents to $26.14, after a 7-cent increase in February. Over the past year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.7%.
Read the BLS release.
