WASHINGTON - Employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the largest payroll gain in three years, aided by federal employment as the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%, the Labor Department reported today.
Payrolls for February were revised to 14,000 jobs lost from 36,000 reported last month. January payrolls turned positive to a gain of 14,000 from a 26,000 decline. Payrolls had declined for 23 straight months amid the recession stretching back to December 2007.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected nonfarm payrolls to increase by 190,000 and for the unemployment rate to hold steady at 9.7%, according to the median estimate.
Several sectors of nonfarm payroll employment turned positive for the first time in more than a year. The construction sector added 15,000. The goods-producing sector added 41,000 jobs. Manufacturing added 17,000 in March and 6,000 in February.
The federal government sector added 48,000 jobs as hiring increased for the 2010 Census.
The average hourly earnings for private workers declined 0.1% in March, the first monthly decline since April 2003. Earnings increased 0.1% in February. Earnings increased 2.1% for the year ending in March after a 2.4% gain in February.
The average work week increased to 33.3 hours from 33.1 hours in February.
Economists expected average hourly earnings to increase 0.2% and for the work week to increase to 33.9 hours.
