Jobs

Payrolls Increase Marginally Higher Than Expected, as Does Unemployment

Jon C. Ogg

Published: April 1, 2016 10:10 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 11:16 am

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that March nonfarm payrolls rose by 215,000 and the unemployment rate ticked up by 0.1% to a reading of 5.0%. With Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s gloomy tone in her speech earlier this week, some economic watchers might have been braced for slightly lower readings.

Bloomberg’s consensus forecast saw the unemployment rate remaining flat at 4.9% and called for a gain of 210,000 in nonfarm payrolls. The prior gain of 242,000 in nonfarm payrolls for February was revised a tad higher to 245,000.

Private sector payrolls rose by 195,000 in March, slightly lower than the Bloomberg consensus of 200,000. February’s report was also raised to 236,000 in the from 230,000 originally reported.

One more positive was that the labor force participation rate rose to 63.0% from 62.9%. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.3%, versus a 0.2% expectation from Bloomberg. The average workweek was 34.4 hours, compared with a consensus estimate of 34.5 hours.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons in March was at 6.1 million, showing little movement since November. Some 1.7 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in March, down by about 335,000 from a year earlier. Among the marginally attached, there were roughly 585,000 discouraged workers in March, down by 153,000 from a year earlier.

Here are some of the sector jobs data:

• Retail trade added 48,000 jobs in March.
• Construction employment rose by 37,000.
• Employment in health care increased by 37,000 over the month.
• Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 25,000.
• Employment in financial activities rose 15,000.
• Employment in manufacturing declined by 29,000 in March.
• Mining employment continued to decline in March, losing 12,000 jobs.