April 06, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Manufacturing employment in March

The number of factory jobs was unchanged in March at 14.3 million.

[Chart data—TXT]

Declines in manufacturing employment began moderating late last summer. Employment in both durable and nondurable goods manufacturing was little changed in March.

The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.1 hour in March to 40.9 hours. Manufacturing overtime was unchanged at 4.6 hours.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 308,000 in March. Payroll job growth was fairly widespread, as construction employment rose sharply and several major service-providing industries also added jobs.

Payroll employment data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. The above data are seasonally adjusted. Data for February and March 2004 are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: March 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-596.