Working Thoughts

• Only the third gain since the recession started in December of 2007
  
• Analysts expected a gain of 190,000
• The report is below the predicted number but the revisions for January and February were better than expected so the numbers somewhat evened out
  
• One year ago the US lost 753,000 jobs
  
• February was revised to a loss of 14,000 jobs from an original reading of 36,000 lost jobs
  
• January was revised to a loss of 26,000 from an original reading of a loss of 20,000 (revised again to a gain of 14,000 jobs)
  
• 6.5 million people have been jobless for more than 6 months (long term unemployed)
  
• This number rose by 400,000 in the month
• 44.1% of the unemployed are long term unemployed
• 8.2 million jobs since the start of 2008
  

• Temporary work, which usually precedes full time employment gains, added 40,000 jobs in March. This is after adding 48,000 in February, 51,000 in January, and 46,500 jobs in December
  
• 48,000 jobs were part of the Census work conducted by the Federal government and are temporary hires
• 60% of industries added jobs
  

Unemployment rate held at 9.7%

• Analysts predicted it would be 9.7%

• As employment picks up, the labor pool will grow again and the unemployment rate should go up or hold steady
  

• The unemployment population edged up 58.6% – meaning people are getting themselves back into the overall count for the unemployment rate
  
• The U-6 report, which is a broader group, increased to 16.9%
• PMI, a measure of manufacturing pace, rose 3.1 points to 59.6. Anything above 50% means the machines are running. This is the highest it’s been since 2004
  

Specific Segment Job numbers:

• Manufacturing added 17,000 jobs
• Construction added 15,000 jobs

• The first growth in this industry since June 2007

• Retailers gained 14,900 jobs
  
• Leisure and Hospitality Services grew by 22,000 jobs
  
• Government sector gained 39,000, Federal gains were 48,000
  
• Education and Health Services grew by 45,000 jobs

• Health Care and Social Assistance grew by 36,700
  

• Professional and Business Services grew by 11,000

• Temporary work added 40,200 jobs in Feb

Wage (can be revised):

• The average weekly paycheck (seasonally adjusted) is $629.37, from $626.25
  
• The average hourly earning (seasonally adjusted) is $18.90 – down 2 cents

• No real movement here in 3 months
  

• The average hourly work week rose to 33.3, an increase from 33.1

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Job Report Stats Summary