U.S. Payrolls Up 216,000 in March; Unemployment Rate Drops to 8.8%

U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000 in March, and the unemployment ticked down slightly to 8.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

The unemployment rate was 8.9 percent in February. March’s 8.8 percent is the lowest unemployment rate since March 2009. Economists polled by MarketWatch had been expecting the jobless rate to inch higher to 9 percent. The headline, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has declined sharply since November of last year.

In March, employment in the service-providing sector continued to expand, led by a gain of 78,000 in professional and business services. Most of the gain occurred in temporary help services (+29,000) and in professional and technical services (+35,000).

Health care employment continued to increase in March (+37,000). Over the last 12 months, health care has added 283,000 jobs, or an average of 24,000 jobs per month.

Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 37,000 over the month, with more than two-thirds of the increase in food services and drinking places (+27,000).

Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in March (+17,000). Job gains were concentrated in two durable goods industries–fabricated metal products (+8,000) and machinery (+5,000). Employment in durable goods manufacturing has risen by 243,000 since its most recent low in December 2009.

In March, employment in mining increased by 14,000, with much of the gain occurring in support activities for mining (+9,000).

Employment in local government continued to trend down over the month. Local government has lost 416,000 jobs since an employment peak in September 2008.