Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 916,000 jobs in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The unemployment rate fell to 6%.
Leisure and hospitality employment grew by 280,000 jobs in March, which is credited in part to the easing of coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions in parts of the country. Nearly two-thirds of these jobs were in food services and drinking places.
Construction also had a big March, adding 110,000 jobs after losing 56,000 jobs in February, likely due to weather. Construction is now 182,000 jobs below its February 2020 level.
Retail trade added 23,000 jobs in March and is still 381,000 jobs below its February 2020 level.
Here is how economists and others reacted to the March jobs report on Twitter.
Boom! https://t.co/T4FvdaPArG
— Tara Sinclair (@TaraSinc) April 2, 2021
+916k jobs. Boom.
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) April 2, 2021
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) April 2, 2021
916K jobs created. CRUSHING expectations of 660K.
Last month revised higher.
Unemployment rate falls to 6.0%
Stock futures at their highs of the morninghttps://t.co/1Es9TG82hz pic.twitter.com/KU9TfZG0hO
Payrolls rose 916,000, indicating that the recovery is accelerating.
— Daniel Zhao (@DanielBZhao) April 2, 2021
Payrolls are still down 8.4 million vs. pre-crisis levels, but a few summer reports w/ job gains near or above 1 million would go a long way to closing the gap.#JobsDay #JobsReport 2/ pic.twitter.com/QL8muL9S3R
Big job gains across the board.
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) April 2, 2021
Encouraging to see large gains for restaurants and education
Restaurants +176,000
Entertainment +74,000
Hotels +40,000
Education (public & private) +190,000
Construction +110,000
Biz +66,000
Manufacturing +53,000
Retail +23,000
Warehouse +48,000
Leisure & hospitality was the leader on job gains and it's bounced back a ton since last spring. But payrolls still down 18.5% since Feb 2020. pic.twitter.com/W9Fzj0bIvB
— Nick Bunker (@nick_bunker) April 2, 2021
A jobs report thought: The US isn’t adding jobs, it’s largely restoring jobs it once had. And while everyone is talking about a “boom” that context matters.
— Shawn Donnan (@sdonnan) April 2, 2021
Take manufacturing:
Manufacturing jobs were up 53k in March. But they are still down 515k from Feb 2020.
What a month for jobs growth! But it is daunting that we will need another 13 months like this in a row if we are to close the 10 million jobs shortfall.
— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) April 2, 2021
Fearless prediction: we'll have several months even faster than this one.
— Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) April 2, 2021
The nominal income is there to support it, and May will be way safer than March.
Huge number of jobs added, both in private and public sector. The rebound of leisure and hospitality and jump in construction has meant that Hispanic unemployment is edging down after a historic high. Black unemployment down a bit, but still higher than two months ago. #jobsday
— Kate Bahn (@LipstickEcon) April 2, 2021
The labor force participation rate for women showed larger gains than for men. We're still down ~5% from March 2020, but getting children safely back in (affordable and accessible) child care and school will make sure women aren't left behind in this recovery.
— Elizabeth Pancotti (@ENPancotti) April 2, 2021
In summary these jobs numbers are terrific. No dark clouds, all silver linings. Happy spring, everybody.
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) April 2, 2021
All in all, this is a wonderful report. Feels nice to feel good after the report.
— Nick Bunker (@nick_bunker) April 2, 2021
Hopefully we're all feeling this way for quite a few Jobs Reports in a row
In some ways, today's #jobsreport is the most optimistic since the pandemic began: with reopening on the horizon, the recovery is accelerating.
— Daniel Zhao (@DanielBZhao) April 2, 2021
But reopening != recovery. We can't declare victory too early—still a lot of work to build a stronger economy than we had before.
9/9
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