Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2012-04-06

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 120,000 in March, and the unemployment rate, at 8.2 percent, changed little. Over the prior 3 months, nonfarm job growth had averaged 246,000 per month. Since a recent low point in February 2010, payroll employment has risen by 3.6 million. Over the month, employment rose in manufacturing, food services and drinking places, and health care, while retail trade employment declined. Manufacturing employment grew by 37,000 in March and has increased by 470,000 since a recent low point in January 2010. Essentially all of the net gain over this period occurred in durable goods. In March, employment increased in motor vehicles and parts, machinery, fabricated metals, and paper manufacturing. Food services and drinking places added 37,000 jobs over the month.