March 1995 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Employment continued to increase and unemployment was essentially unchanged in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 203,000 over the month, with substantial gains in services and construction. Manufacturing employment was flat, following a 5-month period of solid growth. The unemployment rate for March was 5.5 percent.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the level and rate of unemployment were virtually unchanged in March at 7.2 million and 5.5 percent, respectively. These measures are about the same as they were at the end of 1994; they had fallen substantially over the course of that year. (See table A-1.)

The jobless rates for adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.9 percent), whites (4.7 percent), blacks (9.8 percent), and Hispanics (9.1 percent) also showed little or no change in March. The rate for teenagers (16.1 percent) declined somewhat. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or more increased by 140,000 to 1.3 million in March. This is about the same level as in January, but substantially lower than the 1.8 million figure of a year ago. This group comprises 19 percent of the total unemployed. (See table A-5.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment in March, at 125.3 million, was little different than in February (after seasonal adjustment). The number of employed persons has increased by 3.1 million over the past 12 months. The employment- population ratio--the proportion of the working-age population with jobs-- was 63.3 percent, 1 full percentage point higher than a year earlier. (See table A-1.)

A total of 7.6 million workers (not seasonally adjusted), or 6.1 percent of all employed persons, held two or more jobs in March. A year earlier, 5.9 percent of the employed held more than one job. (See table A-8.)

At 132.5 million, seasonally adjusted, the civilian labor force was little changed in March. The labor force participation rate remained at 66.9 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The number of persons with a marginal attachment to the labor force-- those who wanted and were available for work, but were no longer actively looking for jobs after having searched sometime in the past 12 months--was 1.7 million (not seasonally adjusted) in March. Of that total, those who were not looking because they believed that there were no jobs available for them--discouraged workers--numbered 454,000, slightly lower than the year-earlier level. (See table A-8.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to expand, rising by 203,000 in March to 115.8 million. Although most of this increase was again concentrated in the services industry, there also were notable job gains in construction and in finance, insurance, and real estate. (See table B-1.)

Services industry employment rose by 133,000 in March. This followed February's unusually large increase of 217,000. A number of component industries showed strong growth in March, and there were some offsetting declines. Employment in amusements and recreation rose substantially, boosted by warmer-than-normal temperatures. Health services had its largest monthly increase in a year, including a sizable gain in hospitals, where growth had stalled over the past 2 years. In contrast, employment in the personnel supply component of business services, which had been on a steady upward course, fell by 35,000 over the month.

The construction industry added substantially more jobs than normal, resulting in a seasonally adjusted employment gain of 58,000. This reflected unusually warm weather in March. The bulk of this gain was concentrated in industries that are most sensitive to weather conditions-- concrete, masonry, and roofing in special trades as well as heavy construction. The construction industry has added a total of 309,000 jobs over the past year.

Finance, insurance, and real estate employment was up by 17,000 in March, recouping most of the job losses incurred since last August. Job growth was about equally distributed among the industry's three components. Employment in insurance showed its first gain in nearly a year, while real estate's modest growth contributed to gains totaling about 100,000 since its recession-related low point 3 years ago.

Factory employment was virtually unchanged over the month after showing strong growth from October through January and a moderate gain in February. The apparel industry had the largest decline, but there also were small losses in several other manufacturing industries. Of the three industries that have exhibited strong growth trends in recent months, only industrial machinery continued this pattern, whereas gains in fabricated metals and electronic equipment were much smaller in March.

Following strong gains in February, employment in both retail and wholesale trade was fairly flat in March. Retail job declines occurred in eating and drinking places and apparel stores; in contrast, auto dealers and furniture stores experienced moderate gains. Wholesale trade employment was little changed over the month, following 3 months of healthy increases.

Government employment overall was little changed over the month, but Federal employment continued on its downward trend. Federal payrolls have fallen by 165,000 since the most recent peak in April 1992.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged over the month at 34.5 hours (seasonally adjusted). The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.2 hour to 41.9 hours, still a very high level. Factory overtime also declined by 0.2 hour to 4.7 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.2 percent to 131.7 (1982=100) in March. The manufacturing index fell 0.6 percent to 107.0. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers rose by 3 cents in March to $11.33 (seasonally adjusted). Average weekly earnings edged up by 0.3 percent to $390.89. Over the past year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.8 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 2.5 percent. (See table B-3.)

HOUSEHOLD DATA Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age

1/ The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.

1/ The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns. NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups.

HOUSEHOLD DATA Table A-3. Selected employment indicators

(In thousands)

1/ Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force. 2/ Seasonally adjusted unemployment data for service occupations are not available because the seasonal component, which is small relative to the trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.

1/ Not available.

1/ Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.

1/ Data refer to persons who have searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available to take a job during the reference week. 2/ Includes thinks no work available, could not find work, lacks schooling or training, employer thinks too young or old, and other types of discrimination. 3/ Includes those who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as child-care and transportation problems, as well as a small number for which reason for nonparticipation was not determined. 4/ Includes persons who work part time on their primary job and full time on their secondary job(s), not shown separately.

California

Florida

Illinois

Massachusetts

Michigan

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Texas

1/ These are the official Bureau of Labor Statistics' estimates used in the administration of Federal fund allocation programs.

2/ The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and the seasonally adjusted columns.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA