The Employment Situation: March 1997 — 1997-04-04

Employment rose, and the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 5.2 percent in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000, and average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents in March. The number of unemployed persons, 7.1 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.2 percent, were essentially unchanged in March, after seasonal adjustment. Jobless rates for the major demographic groups--adult men (4.4 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.4 percent), whites (4.5 percent), blacks (10.7 percent), and Hispanics (8.6 percent)--showed little or no movement over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.) Total employment rose by 745,000 in March to 129.2 million (seasonally adjusted). The proportion of the population that was employed (the employment-population ratio) rose to 63.8 percent, an all-time high for this series. About 7.9 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in March.