April 10, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

March 2007 payroll employment

In March, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 180,000 to 137.6 million, after seasonal adjustment. This increase followed gains of 162,000 in January and 113,000 in February (as revised).

[Chart data—TXT]

Over the year, total nonfarm employment rose by about 2.0 million.

In March, construction employment rose sharply, following a large decline in the prior month. A sizable job gain also occurred in general merchandise stores in March, and job growth continued in health care and in food services.

Manufacturing employment continued to trend down over the month.

These data are from the BLS Current Employment Statistics program, and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months are preliminary. More information can be found in "The Employment Situation: March 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0486.

Related TED article:

• Unemployment rate in March 2007