The Labor Department said today that the U.S. gained 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest monthly gain in hiring in three years. The Department also said that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7 percent, maintaining the same level it has been at for the past three months.
In reacting to this morning’s news on job gains, Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers said that the report shows continued signs of gradual labor market healing.
“Even after adjusting for the 48,000 temporary Census workers hired and a rebound effect from the February snowstorms, this number suggests an increase in underlying payroll employment,” Romer said. “Moreover, revised estimates now show a small job gain in January and a smaller job loss in February than previously reported. As a result, for the first quarter of 2010 as a whole, job growth averaged 54,000 per month. This is a dramatic change from the first quarter of 2009, when average job loss was 753,000 per month.”
While indicating that today’s labor market news was encouraging, Romer acknowledged that the American job market remains under severe distress. Sustained, robust employment growth will be required to bring down the unemployment, Romer said.
“The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and subject to substantial revision,” Romer stated. “Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative. It is essential that we continue our efforts to move in the right direction and generate steady, strong job gains.”
Some 15 million American workers are currently jobless.
Economists have said that the U.S. economy needs to create 150,000 monthly just to keep up with new workers entering the labor market.
