Total seasonally-adjusted nonfarm payroll employment grew by 178,000 in March, surging back from February's 133,000 decline—and crushing analysts' expectations of an increase of 60,000.

The unemployment rate, which was expected to remain unchanged, actually declined from 4.4% in February to 4.3% last month, as the number of unemployed people fell from 7,571,000 to 7,239,000.

Unemployment rates declined broadly across major demographic groups (men, women, Black, White, Asian, Hispanic).

In March, month-to-month job gains occurred in health care, and construction, as well as in transportation and warehousing, while federal government employment continued to decline:

• Health care: +76,000.
• Construction: +26,000.
• Transportation and warehousing: +21,000 jobs, reflecting a gain in couriers and messengers (+20,000).
• Social assistance: +14,000, primarily in individual and family services (+11,000).
• Federal government: -18,000.
• Financial services: -15,000.

Employment in ambulatory health care services rose by 54,000, reflecting an increase of 35,000 in offices of physicians as workers returned from a strike. Employment also increased in hospitals (+15,000). Over the prior 12 months, health care had added an average of 29,000 jobs per month.

Since reaching a peak in October 2024 under the Biden Administration, federal government employment has fallen by 355,000 (-11.8%). March's federal government employment count includes federal employees on furlough during the partial government shutdown who were counted as employed because they worked or received (or will receive) pay for the pay period that included the 12th of the month.

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, such as mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality.

Revisions for January (+34,000) and February (-41,000) lowered the combined job number for those two months by 7,000. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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