March Employment Report Shows Labor Market Growing

The March employment report showed continued growth in the labor market. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics found unemployment ticking up 0.1 percentage points, the good news was greater labor force participation and 215,000 new jobs created during the month. The payroll survey found widespread job growth throughout the service sector. The retail trade (+48,000), health care (+37,000), and professional and business services (+33,000) sectors showed the largest job growth. Total government employment also increased (+20,000), driven almost entirely by greater hiring by local governments. Employment contracted in the goods producing sector. Manufacturing (-29,000) and mining (-12,000) both lost jobs. The mining losses were driven primarily by continued low energy prices, which have reduced investment in domestic energy extraction. More...