March 1997 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 rose, and the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 5.2 percent in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000, and average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents in March.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons, 7.1 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.2 percent, were essentially unchanged in March, after seasonal adjustment. Jobless rates for the major demographic groups--adult men (4.4 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.4 percent), whites (4.5 percent), blacks (10.7 percent), and Hispanics (8.6 percent)--showed little or no movement over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment rose by 745,000 in March to 129.2 million (seasonally adjusted). The proportion of the population that was employed (the employment-population ratio) rose to 63.8 percent, an all-time high for this series.

About 7.9 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in March. These multiple jobholders accounted for 6.1 percent of all employed persons. (See table A-9.)

The civilian labor force increased by 685,000 to 136.3 million (seasonally adjusted), and the labor force participation rate rose to 67.3 percent. Over the past year, the labor force has increased by 2.5 million (after adjusting for the change in population controls introduced in January), and the participation rate has increased by half a percentage point.

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in March--that is, they wanted and were available for work and had looked for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months. The number of discouraged workers--a subset of the marginally attached who were not currently looking for jobs specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them or there were none for which they would qualify--was 356,000 in March, down from 451,000 a year earlier. (See table A-9.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 175,000 in March to 121.5 million, after seasonal adjustment. Job gains in a variety of service-providing industries were somewhat offset by losses in construction and government. (See table B-1.)

The services industry added 111,000 jobs in March, slightly more than the average monthly gain of 100,000 in 1996. Employment in business services rose by 58,000, as the help supply industry added 25,000 jobs, and computer and data processing services continued its robust growth. Employment in health services increased by 22,000, led by a sizable advance in hospitals. Private education employment also rose.

Employment in retail trade increased by 43,000 in March. Department stores had large gains in both February and March, which offset a loss in January. There were above-average increases in March in building supply stores, food stores, and miscellaneous retail establishments. Eating and drinking places had a large employment decline, after seasonal adjustment, reflecting lighter-than-usual March hiring.

Employment in finance continued to grow in March, primarily in banks, security brokerages, and mortgage brokerages. Strong growth also continued in real estate, which has added 53,000 jobs in the past year. Wholesale trade posted a large job gain for the second month in a row. Employment in transportation and public utilities rose modestly after 2 months of large increases.

Manufacturing employment edged up by 16,000 in March, with the largest increases occurring in lumber and industrial machinery. Factory employment has increased by 74,000 since September, following a loss of 319,000 from its recent peak in March 1995. The recent growth has been concentrated in the durable goods industries, especially industrial machinery and aircraft.

Construction employment fell by 27,000 in March, following an increase of 108,000 in February. The unusual winter weather patterns this year and last have caused large fluctuations in the construction employment series, even after seasonal adjustment. Nevertheless, monthly job gains in construction have averaged 30,000 since October, compared with an average gain of 22,000 in the prior 12 months.

A decrease in government employment of 19,000 reflected a decline of 14,000 in local education, after seasonal adjustment, following gains in the prior 2 months. Employment in state government was unchanged, while federal employment continued to decline.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour in March, to 34.8 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek rose by 0.2 hour to 42.1 hours, a very high level by historical standards. Factory overtime advanced by 0.2 hour to 4.9 hours, the highest level since the series began in 1956. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls, at 140.5 (1982=100) in March, was little changed, after seasonal adjustment, as the rise in employment offset the decline in the average workweek. The manufacturing index increased by 0.5 percent to 107.4. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents in March to $12.15, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings edged up by 0.1 percent to $422.82, reflecting the largely offsetting movements of higher hourly earnings and a slightly shorter workweek. Over the past year, average hourly earnings rose by 4.0 percent, and average weekly earnings increased by 4.9 percent. (See table B-3.)