The Employment Situation: March 2006 — 2006-04-07

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in March, and the unemploy- ment rate was little changed at 4.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the month, job growth was widespread in the service-providing sector. Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.7 percent, were little changed in March. The jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.1 percent), adult women (4.1 percent), teenagers (15.7 percent), whites (4.0 percent), blacks (9.3 percent), and Hispanics (5.4 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.) The number of long-term unemployed--those unemployed 27 weeks and over-- also was little changed over the month. This group accounted for 18.4 percent of the unemployed, down from 21.5 percent a year earlier.