The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that there were 88,000 jobs created in March 2013. The BLS also revised their job creation numbers to an additional increase of 61,000 jobs for January and February: January went from a 119,000 increase 148,000 and February went from 236,000 to 268,000.
In a post on the White House blog, Alan Krueger, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said that private sector jobs have been created for 37 consecutive months, for a total of 6.5 million new jobs over that period.
March’s job growth occurred in various sectors of the economy, including business services, health care and construction. Professional and business services jobs enjoyed the biggest gains in the month of March, increasing by 55,000 jobs. Accounting and bookkeeping were strong areas within that sector, and there was also an upward trend in temporary jobs.
Health care jobs increased by 23,000 in March, which is about the same amount of jobs that have been added to that sector for the last year. The biggest gains in health care were in ambulatory health care services, such as in-home care, which rose by 15,000 jobs.
One of the major shifts for the month of March were retail jobs, which lost 24,000 jobs. According to Chairman Krueger, the retail sector had been growing for eight consecutive months before the drop last month. The month of March also saw job numbers decline in clothing stores, the U.S. Postal Service, building material and garden supply stores, and electronics and appliance stores.
The BLS found wages in March held steady from previous months and that unemployment numbers are virtually the same as before, at 7.6 percent. It also found that there was a dramatic reduction in involuntary part-time workers — 350,000 less than the previous month. This reduction, combined with an unchanged unemployment rate, is a positive indication that many part-time workers are moving into full-time employment.
March’s job growth of 88,000 is somewhat lower than the average monthly growth of 169,000 jobs that has taken place over the last year.
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