Advance copies of this statement are made available to the 

press under lock-up conditions with the explicit 

understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. 

Eastern Daylight Time.

Statement of

Philip L. Rones

Deputy Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, April 6, 2007

Nonfarm payroll employment grew by 180,000 to 137.6 

million in March. The unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, 

was essentially unchanged. Construction employment rose 

sharply over the month; retail trade and health care also 

added jobs. Average hourly earnings increased by 6 cents, 

or 0.3 percent.

Construction employment was up by 56,000 in March, 

following a decline of similar magnitude in February, when 

unusually adverse weather conditions contributed to the 

drop in employment. March job gains were concentrated 

among nonresidential specialty trade contractors, where an 

increase of 34,000 more than offset a decline in February. 

Residential building employment was essentially unchanged 

over the month and has been trending down since last fall. 

Although employment of residential specialty trade 
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contractors edged up in March, the increase did not offset 

the drop in the previous month. Employment in this 

industry has been on a downward trend since February 2006. 

Retail trade employment rose by 36,000 in March, 

reflecting employment growth in general merchandise stores. 

Despite recent gains, employment in general merchandise 

stores was little changed over the year. Elsewhere in 

retail trade, employment in building material and garden 

supply stores declined by 9,000 over the month. 

Employment in health care continued to grow in March 

(+30,000). Job gains occurred throughout the industry, 

including doctors’ offices, hospitals, and nursing and 

residential care facilities. In the leisure and 

hospitality sector, employment in food services also 

continued to trend up (+19,000).

Professional and business services employment was flat 

in March. Job gains in computer systems design and 

management consulting were offset by small declines 

elsewhere in the professional and business services sector. 

Manufacturing employment continued to trend down

(-16,000) in March, with declines in several industries 

including furniture, computers and electronic products, 

textile mills, and paper and paper products. Average 

weekly hours in the manufacturing sector increased by two-
3

tenths of an hour; factory overtime was up by one-tenth of 

an hour.

Average hourly earnings for private production and 

nonsupervisory workers rose by 6 cents to $17.22 in March. 

Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 4.0 

percent.

The number of unemployed persons, 6.7 million, was 

little changed in March. The unemployment rate, at 4.4 

percent, has been in a narrow range of 4.4 to 4.6 percent 

since last September. In March, the number of persons 

unemployed less than 5 weeks fell by 273,000 to 2.3 

million. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment 

rate for whites decreased to 3.8 percent over the month; 

the jobless rates for other groups showed little or no 

change. 

The labor force participation rate held at 66.2 

percent and was about unchanged over the year. The 

proportion of the population that was employed was 63.3 

percent in March, little changed over the month but up 

slightly from a year earlier. Among those not in the labor 

force, the number of discouraged workers has edged down 

from March 2006. 
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In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 180,000 

in March, and the unemployment rate was essentially 

unchanged at 4.4 percent.