by Calculated Risk on 4/04/2025 08:30:00 AM
From the BLS: Employment Situation
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 228,000 in March, and the unemployment rate changed
little at 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred
in health care, in social assistance, and in transportation and warehousing. Employment also
increased in retail trade, partially reflecting the return of workers from a strike. Federal
government employment declined.
…
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised down by 14,000, from
+125,000 to +111,000, and the change for February was revised down by 34,000, from +151,000
to +117,000. With these revisions, employment in January and February combined is 48,000 lower
than previously reported.
emphasis added
Click on graph for larger image.
The first graph shows the jobs added per month since January 2021.
Payrolls for January and February were revised down by 48 thousand, combined.
The second graph shows the year-over-year change in total non-farm employment since 1968.
In March, the year-over-year change was 1.88 million jobs. Employment was up solidly year-over-year.
The third graph shows the employment population ratio and the participation rate.
The Labor Force Participation Rate increased to 62.5% in March, from 62.4% in February. This is the percentage of the working age population in the labor force.
The Employment-Population ratio was unchanged at 59.9% from 59.9% in February (blue line).
I’ll post the 25 to 54 age group employment-population ratio graph later.
The fourth graph shows the unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate increased to 4.2% in March from 4.1% in February.
This was above consensus expectations; however, January and February payrolls were revised down by 48,000 combined.
I’ll have more later …
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