Employment Situation Summary
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 08-0448
http://www.bls.gov/cps/

Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release
http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT),
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, April 4, 2008.


THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: MARCH 2008

The unemployment rate rose from 4.8 to 5.1 percent in March, and nonfarm
payroll employment continued to trend down (-80,000), the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the past
3 months, payroll employment has declined by 232,000. In March, employment
continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and employment services,
while health care, food services, and mining added jobs. Average hourly
earnings rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons increased by 434,000 to 7.8 million in
March, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 5.1 per-
cent. Since March 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by
1.1 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 0.7 percentage point.
(See table A-1.)

Over the month, unemployment rates rose for adult men (to 4.6 percent),
adult women (4.6 percent), and Hispanics (6.9 percent). The jobless rates
edged up for blacks (to 9.0 percent) and whites (4.5 percent), while the
rate for teenagers (15.8 percent) was essentially unchanged. The unemploy-
ment rate for Asians was 3.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables
A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In March, the number of persons unemployed because they lost jobs increased
by 300,000 to 4.2 million. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed
job losers has increased by 914,000. (See table A-8.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force rose to 153.8 million over the month, offsetting a
decline in the prior month. The labor force participation rate was 66.0 percent
in March and has remained at or near that level since last spring. Total employ-
ment held at 146.0 million. The employment-population ratio was little changed
over the month at 62.6 percent. The ratio was down from its most recent peak of
63.4 percent in December 2006. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons, at 4.9 million
in March, was little changed over the month, but has risen by 629,000 over the past
12 months. This category includes persons who indicated that they were working
part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find
full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)

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 individuals wanted and were available for work and
had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as un-
employed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Among the marginally attached, there were 401,000 discouraged workers in March, about
the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers are defined as persons not currently
looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them.
The other 951,000 persons classified as marginally attached to the labor force in
March cited reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See
table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down in March (-80,000), and
has fallen by 232,000 over the past 3 months. In March, job losses occurred in con-
struction, manufacturing, and employment services. Employment in health care, food
services, and mining remained on an upward trend. (See table B-1.)

Employment in construction declined by 51,000 in March and has fallen by 394,000
since its peak in September 2006. Most of the March decrease in employment occurred
among specialty trade contractors (-42,000), with both residential and nonresidential
contractors contributing to the decline.

Manufacturing employment fell by 48,000 in March and by 310,000 over the past
12 months. Employment in motor vehicles and parts was down by 24,000 over the month,
largely reflecting the impact of a strike in auto parts manufacturing. The strike
resulted in a parts shortage that led to plant shutdowns elsewhere in the auto indus-
try. During the 12 months ending in February, the motor vehicle and parts industry
lost an average of 6,000 jobs per month. In March, factory employment also fell in
several construction-related industries, including wood products (-5,000), nonmetallic
mineral products (-5,000), and furniture and related products (-5,000). Plastics and
rubber products and textile mills also lost jobs over the month.

Professional and business services employment edged down in March (-35,000). The
number of jobs in the employment services component declined by 42,000 over the month;
about half of the decline occurred in the temporary help services industry. Employ-
ment services has lost 210,000 jobs since its most recent peak in August 2006. In
March, employment in professional and technical services showed little change for the
third month in a row. This industry had added an average of 27,000 jobs per month
in 2007.

In March, employment in retail trade was little changed. Job losses continued in
building material and garden supply stores (-9,000), furniture and home furnishings
stores (-5,000), and department stores (-5,000). Over the past 12 months, retail
trade has lost 107,000 jobs.

Employment in financial activities changed little in March. Credit intermediation
employment edged down over the month and has fallen by 120,000 since its most recent
peak in October 2006.

Health care employment continued to expand in March, rising by 23,000. Hospitals
added 14,000 jobs. Over the past 12 months, health care has added 363,000 jobs.
Social assistance employment edged up over the month (11,000).

In March, food services employment continued to trend upward (23,000). Employment
in the industry has increased by 288,000 over the past 12 months. Employment in mining
rose by 6,000 in March. Support activities for mining, particularly those related to
oil and gas extraction, accounted for about two-thirds of the increase.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In March, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the manu-
facturing workweek, at 41.3 hours, and factory overtime, at 4.1 hours, rose by 0.1 hour
over the month. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on non-
farm payrolls rose by 0.2 percent in March to 107.5 (2002=100). The manufacturing index
was unchanged at 93.4. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

In March, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on pri-
vate nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $17.86, seasonally adjusted.
This followed gains of 5 cents in January and 6 cents in February. Average weekly
earnings rose by 0.6 percent in March to $603.67. Over the past 12 months, average
hourly earnings increased by 3.6 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 3.3 per-
cent. (See table B-3.)


______________________________


The Employment Situation for April 2008 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, May 2, at 8:30 A.M. (EDT).

Employment Situation Frequently Asked Questions
Employment Situation Technical Note
Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age
Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age
Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment
Table A-5. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status
Table A-6. Selected employment indicators
Table A-7. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
Table A-8. Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment
Table A-9. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment
Table A-10. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted
Table A-11. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted
Table A-12. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
Table A-13. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
Table B-2. Average weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers (1) on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers (1) on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
Table B-4. Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers (1) on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail, seasonally adjusted
Table B-5. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers (1) on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
Table B-6. Indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls of production and nonsupervisory workers (1) on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
Table B-7. Diffusion indexes of employment change

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Table of Contents
Last Modified Date: April 04, 2008

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there are many links and tables at the site above... too many to post