U.S. Adds 178,000 Jobs in March as Unemployment Holds at 4.3%

The U.S. labor market added 178,000 jobs in March while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3 percent.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show gains concentrated in health care, construction, and transportation and warehousing, while federal government and financial activities shed jobs.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 178,000 in March, more than offsetting a revised decline of 133,000 jobs in February, when employment fell for the month. Taken together with January, whose job growth was revised up to 160,000, total employment over the first two months of the year is now estimated to be 7,000 lower than previously reported. Over the past 12 months, payroll employment has changed little on net.

The unemployment rate held at 4.3 percent in March, with 7.2 million people unemployed.  Labor force participation remained at 61.9 percent and the employment-population ratio at 59.2 percent.

Health care was again the standout source of hiring, adding 76,000 jobs in March. Ambulatory health care services accounted for the bulk of the increase, with 54,000 new positions, including a 35,000-job jump in offices of physicians as workers returned from a strike. Hospitals added another 15,000 jobs. Over the past year, the health care sector has averaged 29,000 new jobs per month.

Construction employment grew by 26,000 jobs in March, although the sector has shown little net change over the previous 12 months.  Transportation and warehousing added 21,000 jobs, largely due to a 20,000 increase in couriers and messengers, even as overall employment in the sector remains 139,000 below its February 2025 peak.

Social assistance continued its upward trend, adding 14,000 positions, primarily in individual and family services, which gained 11,000 jobs.

Federal government employment fell by 18,000 in March. Federal employees on furlough during the partial government shutdown were still counted as employed in the establishment survey if they worked or received (or will receive) pay for the pay period including the 12th of the month.

Financial activities lost 15,000 jobs in March, driven by a 16,000 decline in finance and insurance employment. Since reaching a peak in May 2025, financial activities have shed 77,000 jobs.

Employment was little changed over the month in mining, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, information, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and other services.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents, or 0.2 percent, in March to 37.38 dollars. Over the past year, average hourly pay is up 3.5 percent. For production and nonsupervisory workers, average hourly earnings edged up by 5 cents, or 0.2 percent, to 32.07 dollars.

The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, was little changed at 1.8 million in March but has risen by 322,000 over the past year, now accounting for 25.4 percent of all unemployed people. The number of people employed part-time for economic reasons was 4.5 million.

The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job was 6.0 million in March. The number of people marginally attached to the labor force rose by 325,000 to 1.9 million. Discouraged workers, those who want a job but are not looking because they believe no jobs are available for them, increased by 144,000 to 510,000.