Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 228,000 in March, while the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The growth, which outpaced the average monthly gain of 158,000 over the past year, was driven by hiring in health care, social assistance, and transportation and warehousing. Retail trade also saw job gains, in part due to the return of workers following a strike. Federal government employment declined for the second consecutive month.
Hiring in key sectors
Health care led all sectors with an addition of 54,000 jobs in March, in line with its recent trend. The gains were spread across ambulatory health care services (+20,000), hospitals (+17,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+17,000).
Social assistance employment rose by 24,000, surpassing the 12-month average. Most of the growth came from individual and family services, which added 22,000 positions.
Retail trade added 24,000 jobs, bolstered by 21,000 new positions in food and beverage stores as workers returned from a strike. General merchandise retailers, however, shed 5,000 jobs.
Transportation and warehousing employment grew by 23,000, nearly double its average monthly increase over the past year. Couriers and messengers (+16,000) and truck transportation (+10,000) led the growth, offset by a loss of 9,000 jobs in warehousing and storage.
Federal government jobs declined by 4,000 in March, following an 11,000-job drop in February.
Unemployment and participation steady
The number of unemployed persons remained relatively unchanged at 7.1 million in March. Long-term unemployment (27 weeks or more) was stable at 1.5 million, representing 21.3 percent of the unemployed population.
The labor force participation rate held at 62.5 percent, showing little movement over the month or year. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 59.9 percent.
Approximately 4.8 million people were employed part time for economic reasons, a figure that also showed little change. These individuals typically seek full-time work but are unable to secure it due to reduced hours or a lack of available positions.
Wages and hours
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents in March, or 0.3 percent, to $36.00. Over the past year, wages have increased by 3.8 percent.
For production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents to $30.96.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.2 hours. Among production and nonsupervisory workers, the average workweek rose slightly to 33.8 hours.
Revisions to previous months
Job gains for January and February were revised downward by a combined 48,000. January’s total was lowered from 125,000 to 111,000, and February’s from 151,000 to 117,000. These revisions reflect updated reports from employers and seasonal adjustment recalculations.
Labor secretary comments on report
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the March figures reflect the Trump administration’s ongoing economic policies, which she described as focused on reshaping the economy to prioritize American workers.
“Growth far exceeded expectations at 228,000 jobs created,” she said. “This report also reflects the Trump administration’s focus on improving efficiency across government.”
Chavez-DeRemer also pointed to reductions in federal employment and efforts to align telework levels with the private sector as part of the administration’s strategy to “right-size” the federal workforce.
The next Employment Situation report will be released on May 2, 2025.
