The United States economy added 303,000 jobs while the unemployment rate declined to 3.8 percent in March 2024, according to “The Employment Situation” (PDF) monthly jobs report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS jobs report showed changes in employment occurred in the following industry sectors during the month.
- Health care added 72,000 jobs in March 2024, above the average monthly gain of 60,000 jobs over the prior 12 months.
- Government added 71,000 jobs in March 2024, higher than the average monthly gain of 54,000 jobs over the prior 12 months.
- Leisure and hospitality added 49,000 jobs in March 2024. Over the prior 12 months, job growth in the industry had averaged 37,000 jobs per month.
- Construction added 39,000 jobs in March 2024, about double the average monthly gain of 19,000 jobs over the prior 12 months.
- Retail trade added 18,000 jobs in March 2024 and has shown little net change over the prior 12 months.
- Other services added 16,000 jobs in March 2024. The industry had added an average of 8,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months.
- Social assistance added 9,000 jobs in March 2024, below the average monthly gain of 22,000 jobs over the prior 12 months.
- Employment in mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and professional and business services changed little in March 2024.
The BLS jobs report revealed that the change in total employment for January 2024 was revised from 229,000 jobs added to 256,000 jobs added while February 2024 was revised from 275,000 jobs added to 270,000 jobs added. With these revisions, employment in January 2024 and February 2024 was 22,000 jobs higher than previously reported.
“The Employment Situation” is usually released by the BLS on the first Friday of every month. The jobs report for April 2024 is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 3, 2024. The BLS jobs report is available online each month at www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm and www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf.
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Thomas Ahearn - Digital Content Editor
Thomas Ahearn is a Digital Content Editor at ClearStar, a leading Human Resources technology company specializing in background checks, drug testing, and occupational health screening. He writes about a variety of topics in the background screening industry including Artificial Intelligence (AI), "Ban the Box," class action lawsuits, credit reports, criminal records, drug testing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), identity theft, privacy, social media screening, and workplace violence.
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