Jobless Rate Rose to 5.7% in March
Since employment levels drive so much economic activity, an improvement in the job market can bolster consumer confidence and spending patterns, which affect trucking demand.
The Labor Department had reported payrolls grew by 66,000 in February, but it revised that number to a loss of 2,000.
The payroll increase was higher than expected, but the forecast was made before analysts knew Labor would revise February payrolls into negatives, Bloomberg reported.
Factories lost 38,000 jobs in March, but that was the smallest decline since December 2000. Manufacturing losses had averaged 111,000 between January 2001 and January 2002, Labor said.
Construction employment decreased by 37,000 in March, while the service-producing sector gained 118,000 jobs, its largest over-the-month increase since September 2000.
The unemployment rate was expected to rise to 5.6%. The increase in the unem-ployment rate doesn’t have analysts too concerned about the economy because unemployment usually continues to rise at that start of a recovery, Bloomberg said. And it remains lower than the 6 1/2-year high of 5.8% seen in December.
Workers' average hourly earnings rose 0.3%, or 4 cents, in March, after a 0.3% in-crease the previous month. Average weekly earnings rose to $501.71 last month from $500.35 in February.
Average weekly hours worked were unchanged at 34.2, but manufacturing hours rose to 41.1 from 40.7. Manufacturing overtime, which usually increases before factories begin adding workers, rose to 4.2 hours from 3.9.
In other news, Canada said Friday that its jobless rate fell to 7.7% in March from 7.9% in February. That brought gains in the first quarter to 170,000 jobs, the largest since 1987 and was seen as a sign that the Canadian economy is showing signs of recovering, Reuters said.
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