U.S. Job Gains Smallest Since December 2013

The United States added 126,000 jobs in March, the smallest monthly increase since December 2013. Job gains averaged about 324,000 a month in the last quarter of 2014, while an average of 197,000 jobs per month were added in the first quarter of 2015.

State Employment Economist Nick Beleiciks says of the decline in growth, "Businesses that provide support activities for oil and gas extraction have been cutting jobs in recent months. That’s because lower crude oil prices are slowing expansion in the industry."

Oil and gas extraction support is part of the mining industry, which has lost 30,000 jobs so far in 2015.

Closer to home were the national job losses in manufacturing. "Oregon’s manufacturing sector has been steadily adding jobs over the last year," says Beleiciks. Manufacturing employment grew by 0.7 percent in February and 4.3 percent between Feb 2014 and Feb 2015.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.5 percent, down 1.1 percentage points over the year. That's about 1.8 million fewer unemployed persons.

We’ll find out if Oregon's employment figures follow the nation's in the Oregon Employment Department's April 14, 10:00 a.m. press release. Visit our press release page for information.

Read the BLS' full release here: The Employment Situation - March 2015