The Unemployment Rate decreased to 8.8% in March, the lowest level in two years, against expectations that the figure would remain unchanged, after decreasing to 8.9% in February. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 131,000 to 13.5 million during the month. Nonfarm Payrolls, increased by 216,000, against an expected increase of 195,000, after increasing by 194,000 in February and 63,000 in January. Private sector employment increased by 230,000, down from 240,000 in February. The services sector continued to expand March with professional and business services adding 78,000 jobs. Healthcare employment continued to rise, with a gain of 37,000. Leisure and hospitality added an identical number of jobs, with more than two-thirds of the increase coming from food services and drinking places, where employment grew by 27,000. The manufacturing sector added 17,000 jobs in March while the retail sector added a marginally higher number. The bulk of the increases in manufacturing came from fabricated metal products and machinery. Employment in mining increased by 14,000, with much of the gain occurring in support activities for mining. Construction employment dipped marginally after growing by 37,000 in February, following a decline of 20,000 in January that may have been caused by acute winter weather conditions.Government employment declined by 14,000 in March. Since an employment peak in September 2008, local government has lost 416,000 jobs. The Average Workweek was unchanged at 34.3 hours. Average Hourly Earnings was unchanged at $22.87.
ISM Manufacturing Index figures are expected today at 10:00 AM EST. The ISM Manufacturing Index increased to 61.4 in February, following an increase to 60.8 in January from 58.5 in December.
Construction Spending figures are expected today at 10:00 AM EST. Construction Spending decreased by 0.7% to $791.8 billion during January. Year over year, construction spending had declined by 5.9% from the January 2010 estimate of $841.0 billion.
Upcoming Releases
ISM Manufacturing Index (04/01 at 10:00 AM EST)
Construction Spending (04/01 at 10:00 AM EST)
Construction Spending (04/01 at 10:00 AM EST)
ISM Services Index (04/05 at 10:00 AM EST)
Crude Inventories (04/06 at 10:30 AM EST)
