U.S. Payrolls Added 120,000 Jobs in March

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that employers added 120,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in March. Manufacturing and food services and drinking places each gained 37,000 jobs from February to March. Professional and business services added 31,000 jobs, and health care continued to grow with a gain of 26,000 jobs over the month.
Meanwhile, the nation's unemployment rate edged down slightly to 8.2 percent. The BLS reports that jobless rates among major worker groups showed little or no change. The unemployment rate for men (7.6%) was slightly higher than for women (7.4%). Teen unemployment sat at 25.0 percent.

The number of long-term unemployed (jobless for more than 26 weeks) totaled 5.3 million in March. These individuals account for more than two-fifths of all unemployed persons. For more information on persistent unemployment, take a look at our post last week about this key workforce challenge.

All numbers in this post are seasonally adjusted.