The Employment Situation: March 1998 — 1998-04-03

Both nonfarm payroll employment and the unemployment rate were about unchanged in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Following 5 months of strong growth, the number of payroll jobs edged down by 36,000, reflecting declines in construction and retail trade and an unusually small gain in services. The unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in March. The number of unemployed persons, 6.5 million, was little changed from the prior month. The jobless rate, 4.7 percent in March, has been at or below 5 percent for the last 12 months. Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (4.3 percent), teenagers (15.0 percent), whites (4.1 percent), blacks (9.2 percent), and Hispanics (6.9 percent)--showed little or no movement over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.) The unemployment rates for persons 25 years and over changed little in each of the major educational attainment categories.