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Health care and social assistance employment increased by 2.9 percent, or 680,500, from March 2025 to March 2026

April 09, 2026

Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little on net over the year ended March 2026. Health care and social assistance employment increased by 2.9 percent, or 680,500 jobs, from March 2025 to March 2026. Leisure and hospitality employment increased by 1.0 percent, or 176,000, over the year. Employment in local government increased by 0.9 percent, or 135,000.

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Chart Data

Over-the-year employment changes by industry, seasonally adjusted, March 2026
Industry	Change from Mar. 2025 to Mar. 2026
Industry	Percent change	Change in employment
Health care and social assistance	2.9	680,500
Leisure and hospitality	1.0	176,000
Local government	0.9	135,000
Utilities	0.8	4,600
Construction	0.7	57,000
Other services	0.6	35,000
Wholesale trade	-0.1	-7,400
Professional and business services	-0.2	-40,000
Retail trade	-0.2	-29,600
Private educational services	-0.4	-16,700
Manufacturing	-0.6	-75,000
Financial activities	-0.7	-67,000
State government	-0.9	-47,000
Transportation and warehousing	-1.8	-121,200
Information	-2.7	-76,000
Mining and logging	-2.7	-17,000
Federal government	-11.0	-330,000
Note: Data are preliminary.

Employment in transportation and warehousing was down 1.8 percent, or 121,200, since March 2025. Manufacturing employment decreased by 0.6 percent, or 75,000. Employment in information decreased 2.7 percent, or 76,000 jobs.

Since March 2025, federal government employment was down by 11.0 percent, or 330,000 jobs. Federal employees on furlough during the partial government shutdown were counted as employed in the establishment survey because they worked or received (or will receive) pay for the pay period that included the 12th of the month.

Over the month, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 178,000 in March 2026, following a decrease in February. In March, job gains occurred in health care, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. Federal government employment continued to decline in March 2026.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — March 2026." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Health care and social assistance employment increased by 2.9 percent, or 680,500, from March 2025 to March 2026 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/health-care-and-social-assistance-employment-increased-by-2-9-percent-or-680500-from-march-2025-to-march-2026.htm (visited April 09, 2026).

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