March 1998 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.

Both nonfarm payroll employment and the unemployment rate were about unchanged in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Following 5 months of strong growth, the number of payroll jobs edged down by 36,000, reflecting declines in construction and retail trade and an unusually small gain in services. The unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in March.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons, 6.5 million, was little changed from the prior month. The jobless rate, 4.7 percent in March, has been at or below 5 percent for the last 12 months. Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (4.3 percent), teenagers (15.0 percent), whites (4.1 percent), blacks (9.2 percent), and Hispanics (6.9 percent)--showed little or no movement over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

The unemployment rates for persons 25 years and over changed little in each of the major educational attainment categories. The rate was 7.2 percent for those with less than a high school diploma, 4.2 percent for high school graduates with no college experience, 3.3 percent for high school graduates with some college experience but no bachelor's degree, and 1.9 percent for college graduates. (See table A-3.)

The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks rose to 2.9 million in March (seasonally adjusted); it had been 2.5 million in January. Long-term unemployment of 27 weeks or longer--891,000 in March--was at its lowest level of the current expansion. This measure had peaked at 2.2 million in October 1992. (See table A-6.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, at 131.0 million (seasonally adjusted), was essentially unchanged over the month. Over the year, total civilian employment has risen by about 2.1 million, after adjusting for changes in the composite estimation procedure. The employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population with jobs--was 64.0 percent, near its all-time high. (See table A-1.)

About 8.0 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in March. They comprised 6.1 percent of the total employed. (See table A-10.)

The civilian labor force, at 137.5 million (seasonally adjusted), was virtually unchanged over the month. The labor force participation rate was 67.2 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in March. These were people who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

The number of discouraged workers--a subset of the marginally attached who were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them--totaled 343,000 in March, little changed from a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment edged down in March after adding 1.7 million jobs during the prior 5 months. Employment in March was 3.1 million higher than a year earlier. Over the month, there were declines in construction and retail trade. These were mostly offset by a relatively small gain in services and continued growth in finance, insurance, and real estate and in transportation and public utilities. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, construction employment fell by 88,000 over the month, after seasonal adjustment. This followed 4 months of large gains, which were partly due to an exceptionally mild winter during which seasonal employment declines were much smaller than normal. As a result, there was less need to add workers in March. Also, the weather during the March survey reference period was much colder than usual, further slowing seasonal hiring.

Manufacturing employment was essentially unchanged for the second straight month, after growing by 169,000 between September and January. Job growth has slowed in several industries that had accounted for much of the increase--fabricated metals, industrial machinery, electronic components, and aircraft.

In the service-producing sector, employment in the services industry rose by only 45,000 over the month, the smallest gain since August 1997. The weakness in March was due in part to an employment decline in the help supply industry (-16,000), following a sizable gain in February. Motion picture employment declined by 8,000 in March. Health services added only 7,000 jobs, compared with a monthly average of 18,000 over the prior year. In contrast, strong growth continued in March in computer services (17,000), engineering and management services (16,000), and social services (11,000).

Retail trade employment fell by 48,000 in March, as seasonal hiring was below normal in eating and drinking places. Employment in apparel stores declined for the second month in a row. Employment in wholesale trade and its component industries was about unchanged in March. Government employment was little changed over the month at 19.8 million, seasonally adjusted. After 5 years of substantial declines, employment losses in federal government, except the postal service, have slowed, totaling only 7,000 since September.

Transportation and public utilities continued to grow, adding 22,000 jobs in March and 86,000 since December. Spurring the March increase were widespread gains in transportation and continued strong growth in telephone communications. The number of jobs in finance, insurance, and real estate rose by 31,000 over the month, reflecting strong housing and stock markets and low mortgage rates.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.2 hour to 34.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek fell by 0.3 hour to 41.7 hours, bringing the decline since December to half an hour. Factory overtime decreased for the second straight month by 0.1 hour to 4.7 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.7 percent to 143.5 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index decreased by 0.6 percent to 108.9. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls were up 4 cents in March to $12.63, seasonally adjusted. Reflecting the decline in the workweek, average weekly earnings edged down 0.3 percent to $438.26. Since March 1997, average hourly and weekly earnings have risen by 4.0 and 3.7 percent, respectively.