Payroll employment increases by 178,000 in March; unemployment rate changes little at 4.3%

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 178,000 in March, and the unemployment rate
changed little at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains
occurred in health care, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. Federal
government employment continued to decline.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures
labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment
survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information
about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical
Note.

Household Survey Data

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.2
million, changed little in March. These measures also changed little over the year. (See table
A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for people who are Asian (3.7 percent)
decreased in March. The jobless rates for adult men (3.8 percent), adult women (4.0 percent),
teenagers (13.7 percent), and people who are White (3.6 percent), Black (7.1 percent), or
Hispanic (4.8 percent) showed little change over the month. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.8
million in March but is up by 322,000 over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for
25.4 percent of all unemployed people in March. (See table A-12.)

Both the labor force participation rate, at 61.9 percent, and the employment-population ratio,
at 59.2 percent, changed little in March. These measures also showed little change over the
year, after accounting for annual population control adjustments. (See table A-1.) 

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.5 million, changed little
in March. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part
time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See
table A-8.)

The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job changed little at 6.0
million in March. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not
actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take
a job. (See table A-1.)

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached
to the labor force increased by 325,000 in March to 1.9 million. These individuals wanted and
were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not
looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a
subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, increased
by 144,000 in March to 510,000. (See Summary table A.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 178,000 in March, following a decrease in
February (-133,000). In March, job gains occurred in health care, in construction, and in
transportation and warehousing. Federal government employment continued to decline. Payroll
employment had changed little on net over the prior 12 months. (See table B-1.)

Health care added 76,000 jobs in March. Employment in ambulatory health care services rose by
54,000, reflecting an increase of 35,000 in offices of physicians as workers returned from a
strike. Employment also increased in hospitals (+15,000). Over the prior 12 months, health
care had added an average of 29,000 jobs per month. 

Employment in construction grew by 26,000 in March but had shown little net change over the
prior 12 months.

In March, transportation and warehousing added 21,000 jobs, reflecting a gain in couriers and
messengers (+20,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing is down by 139,000 since
reaching a peak in February 2025.

Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend in March (+14,000), primarily in
individual and family services (+11,000).

Federal government employment continued to decline in March (-18,000). Since reaching a peak
in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 355,000, or 11.8 percent. Federal
employees on furlough during the partial government shutdown were counted as employed in the
establishment survey because they worked or received (or will receive) pay for the pay period
that included the 12th of the month.

Employment in financial activities edged down by 15,000 in March, reflecting a loss in finance
and insurance (-16,000). Employment in financial activities is down by 77,000 since reaching a
peak in May 2025.

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining,
quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade;
information; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.

In March, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9
cents, or 0.2 percent, to $37.38. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.5
percent. In March, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory
employees edged up by 5 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $32.07. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to
34.2 hours in March. In manufacturing, the average workweek was unchanged at 40.2 hours, and
overtime was also unchanged at 3.0 hours. The average workweek for production and
nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.8 hours. (See tables B-2
and B-7.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised up by 34,000, from
+126,000 to +160,000, and the change for February was revised down by 41,000, from -92,000 to
-133,000. With these revisions, employment in January and February combined is 7,000 lower
than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from 
businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the
recalculation of seasonal factors.)

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The Employment Situation for April is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 8, 2026,
at 8:30 a.m. (ET).