The Employment Situation: March 2003 — 2003-04-04

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 108,000 in March, while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment continued to decline in manufacturing, retail trade, and transportation. Government employment also was down over the month. The number of unemployed persons, 8.4 million, was unchanged in March, and the unemployment rate remained at 5.8 percent. Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.3 percent), adult women (5.0 percent), teenagers (17.7 percent), whites (5.1 percent), blacks or African Americans (10.2 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.5 percent)--showed little or no change in March. The unemployment rate for Asians was 6.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted. About 1 in 5 unemployed persons had been without a job for 27 weeks or longer. (See tables A-1, A-2, A-3, and A-9.) Total employment in March was 137.3 million, and the employment-popula- tion ratio was about unchanged at 62.3 percent.