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Employment increased by 196,000 in March 2019

April 09, 2019

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 196,000 in March 2019, with notable gains in health care. Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up. Total payroll employment increased 33,000 in February and 312,000 in January. Employment growth averaged 180,000 per month in the first quarter of 2019, compared with 223,000 per month in 2018.

 1-month change in nonfarm payroll employment, January 2018–March 2019
Month All employees, total

Jan 2018

171,000

Feb 2018

330,000

Mar 2018

182,000

Apr 2018

196,000

May 2018

270,000

Jun 2018

262,000

Jul 2018

178,000

Aug 2018

282,000

Sep 2018

108,000

Oct 2018

277,000

Nov 2018

196,000

Dec 2018

227,000

Jan 2019

312,000

Feb 2019

33,000

Mar 2019

196,000

Note: Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary.

Employment in health care and social assistance increased by 483,900 over the past 12 months. Health care added 398,000 over the past 12 months. Over the month, employment increased in ambulatory health care services, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities.

1-month change in nonfarm payroll employment, by industry, January 2018–March 2019
Month Mining and logging Construction Manufacturing Wholesale trade Retail trade Transportation and warehousing Utilities Information

Jan 2018

7,000 33,000 16,000 -2,300 2,400 19,800 -1,500 -9,000

Feb 2018

7,000 73,000 31,000 3,200 23,700 28,400 1,900 0

Mar 2018

8,000 2,000 20,000 7,500 1,200 22,500 -200 12,000

Apr 2018

9,000 29,000 22,000 -13,400 3,700 6,600 1,400 5,000

May 2018

5,000 37,000 21,000 5,800 18,300 18,300 -1,400 2,000

Jun 2018

7,000 17,000 32,000 7,800 -34,200 18,700 -500 0

Jul 2018

-1,000 19,000 20,000 14,400 2,300 8,000 -2,900 1,000

Aug 2018

8,000 34,000 8,000 19,400 5,900 23,800 600 -6,000

Sep 2018

3,000 17,000 18,000 2,000 -26,000 23,200 100 -4,000

Oct 2018

6,000 25,000 29,000 6,700 -9,900 24,300 1,400 10,000

Nov 2018

-3,000 5,000 27,000 11,300 32,500 23,600 300 -3,000

Dec 2018

4,000 16,000 20,000 12,500 -5,900 -1,100 -200 -2,000

Jan 2019

7,000 56,000 17,000 7,800 9,300 30,200 300 -12,000

Feb 2019

-4,000 -25,000 1,000 10,200 -20,200 -3,700 -1,100 -4,000

Mar 2019

2,000 16,000 -6,000 -2,000 -11,700 7,300 1,300 10,000

 

1-month change in nonfarm payroll employment, by industry, January 2018–March 2019 (continued)
Month Financial activities Professional and business services Educational services Health care and social assistance Leisure and hospitality Other services Federal government State government Local government

Jan 2018

2,000 37,000 18,500 45,900 13,000 4,000 0 -17,000 2,000

Feb 2018

26,000 44,000 -7,500 43,900 25,000 4,000 -3,000 8,000 21,000

Mar 2018

9,000 42,000 -5,200 41,600 11,000 1,000 0 5,000 4,000

Apr 2018

4,000 62,000 4,200 20,600 18,000 13,000 1,000 9,000 2,000

May 2018

15,000 51,000 2,300 36,700 38,000 15,000 0 -1,000 7,000

Jun 2018

11,000 51,000 31,300 33,100 43,000 18,000 2,000 10,000 14,000

Jul 2018

5,000 37,000 10,700 37,200 35,000 -12,000 1,000 1,000 3,000

Aug 2018

11,000 58,000 12,000 48,300 17,000 6,000 0 11,000 25,000

Sep 2018

14,000 53,000 -12,600 37,700 -24,000 7,000 1,000 14,000 -15,000

Oct 2018

14,000 55,000 -9,900 46,700 79,000 7,000 1,000 -7,000 -2,000

Nov 2018

3,000 34,000 -7,600 36,600 39,000 1,000 6,000 -17,000 7,000

Dec 2018

1,000 37,000 13,900 52,900 65,000 11,000 -6,000 3,000 6,000

Jan 2019

6,000 5,000 26,700 41,700 93,000 9,000 -1,000 1,000 15,000

Feb 2019

6,000 54,000 -17,900 31,200 -1,000 3,000 1,000 6,000 -2,000

Mar 2019

11,000 37,000 8,900 61,200 33,000 14,000 -2,000 4,000 12,000

Note: Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary.

Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in March (+37,000) and has risen by 534,000 over the past 12 months. Within the industry's professional and technical components, computer systems design and related services added jobs and employment continued to trend up in architectural and engineering services and in management and technical consulting services in March.

Leisure and hospitality employment was little changed (+33,000) in March. Within the industry, employment in food services and drinking places continued its upward trend.

Employment in construction showed little change in March (+16,000), but has increased by 246,000 over the past 12 months.

Manufacturing employment changed little for the second month in a row (−6,000 in March, following +1,000 in February). In the 12 months prior to February, manufacturing had added an average of 22,000 jobs per month. Within the industry, employment in motor vehicles and parts declined in March.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months are preliminary. See "The Employment Situation — March 2019" to learn more. For additional charts, see Graphics for Economic News Releases: The Employment Situation.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment increased by 196,000 in March 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/employment-increased-by-196000-in-march-2019.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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