Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 103,000 in March, a decrease from last month’s strong reading of 326,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, maintaining the lowest level since December 2000.
Private service-providing industries gained 87,000 jobs, led by professional and business services and education and health care, adding 33,000 and 25,000 jobs, respectively.
Goods-producing employment rose by 15,000 jobs during the month, as gains in manufacturing led by adding 22,000 jobs in March. Construction employment declined by 15,000 jobs.
The civilian labor force participation rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 62.9%. Workers unemployed for less than 14 weeks decreased by 118,000, while the number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, fell by 75,000 and accounted for 20.3% of the unemployed. The number of discouraged workers was 450,000, a decrease of 10,000 from a year earlier.
Average hourly earnings rose by 8 cents, settling at $26.82. Over the past year, average hourly earnings have risen by 71 cents, or 2.7%.
Read the BLS release.
