Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2013-04-05

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 edged up in March (+88,000); job gains over the prior 12 months had averaged 169,000 per month. The unemployment rate, at 7.6 percent, changed little in March. Over the month, employment grew in professional and business services and in health care but decreased in retail trade. Employment rose by 51,000 in professional and business services over the month. Job gains in the prior 12 months had averaged 44,000 per month. Over the month, employment continued to trend up throughout most of the sector, including a gain of 11,000 jobs in accounting and bookkeeping services. Health care employment rose by 23,000 in March, about in line with the average monthly growth over the prior 12 months.