The economy added 103,000 jobs in March, according to preliminary numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Economic Situation Report released on Friday, April 6, 2018.
“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 103,000 jobs in March, following a large gain of 326,000 jobs in February,” said Jay Rollins, owner of Actuary.com, a leading career website specializing in actuary job postings. “Comparatively, January added 176,000 jobs while March 2017 added 73,000 jobs.”
The unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent for the sixth consecutive month, and the number of unemployed persons changed little at 6.6 million. “Last month, employment grew in manufacturing, health care, and mining,” said Rollins.
Manufacturing added 22,000 jobs in March, all within the durable goods component. Over the year, manufacturing has added 232,000 jobs with durable goods accounting for about 75 percent of growth.
Health care added 22,000 jobs, in line with its average monthly gain of the past 12 months.
Mining added 9,000 jobs in March, with gains in support activities for mining (+6,000) and oil and gas extraction (+2,000). Since reaching a low in October 2016, mining has added 78,000 jobs.
Total nonfarm payroll employment was revised down from 239,000 to 176,000 in January and revised up from 313,000 to 326,000 in February. With these revisions, employment gains in January and February combined were 50,000 less than previously reported. After revisions, employment gains have averaged 202,000 jobs over the past three months.
