March Sees Addition of 192,000 Jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its jobs report for the month of March, with employers adding 192,000 jobs, according to Forbes.

Economists has predicted that 200,000 jobs would be added for the month. The unemployment rate stayed the same at 6.7 percent. The participation rate for the labor force hit 63.2 percent, which is an increase from February. The ratio for employment to population came in at 58.9 percent. This was an increase from February too.

“This current jobs report doesn’t move me in any significant way,” said Columbia Business School Professor Moshe Cohen in a phone call.

Cohen said that a change of 10,000 numbers in either direction does not give us a strong indicator of the economy. He said that the obsession with the jobs number in the market is from the Fed, which is “carefully tweaking of policy to maintain sentiment and to keep the market steady.”

Tom Gimbel is the CEO of LaSalle Network, a staffing firm. He said that markets have to adjust to the fact that jobs’ being added in the 150,000s to 200,000s range is our new normal. Gimbel said that the economy was spoiled when the internet was growing from 1999 to 2007. He said that “job seekers have to stop looking for the job that is right for them.” Gimbel said that job seekers need to acquire the skills needed for the jobs that are available.

The US Analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, Joseph Lake, wrote the following in the notes of the report:

“Job growth gained momentum in February and March as the weather improved. Firms and consumers are making investments they deferred in January. This bounce in economic activity is driving companies to hire at a faster rate. The coldest start to the year since 1994 reduced business and consumer activity, discouraging firms from hiring workers. Still, the February and March payroll numbers are promising and suggest that the economy is shaking off the effects of the inclement weather.”

Lake believes that the job market is “shedding some of the slack” following the recession. More people have found jobs than have dropped from the work force for the first time in four years.

Business services brought in 57,000 jobs last month while health care and construction picked up 19,000 per industry. Mining and logging also increased in jobs while local government added 8,000 jobs. Federal government jobs dropped by 9,000 in March.

Where can you find government jobs? Click here.