March Jobs Report 2026 Shows Rebound After February
March jobs report 2026 showed BLS payrolls topped forecasts, easing near-term concerns and narrowing labor-market volatility for traders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Nonfarm payrolls rose 178,000 in March, offsetting February's revised 133,000 decline.
- Unemployment rate eased to 4.3% as the number unemployed fell by 332,000.
- Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% m/m to $37.38, a 3.5% year-over-year increase.
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The March jobs report 2026 released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on April 3 showed stronger-than-expected payroll growth, easing concerns after February’s downward revision and narrowing recent labor-market volatility for traders and investors.
Payroll Growth and Unemployment Rate
Total nonfarm payrolls increased by 178,000 in March, surpassing economists’ forecast of about 59,000. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent in February as the number of unemployed fell by 332,000 to 7.2 million. February’s payrolls were revised to a decline of 133,000 from a previously reported loss of 92,000, while January’s figure was adjusted up to a gain of 160,000 from 126,000. The combined revision for January and February lowered the two-month total by about 7,000 jobs.
Labor-force participation slipped 0.1 percentage point to 61.9 percent, and the employment-population ratio eased to 59.2 percent, also down 0.1 point from February. About 4.5 million people worked part time for economic reasons, little changed, while 1.9 million were marginally attached to the labor force, an increase of 325,000 from the prior month. The long-term unemployed numbered 1.8 million, representing 25.4 percent of the total and up 322,000 year over year.
Wage Growth and Sector Employment Shifts
Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm workers rose 0.2 percent month to month to $37.38, a 3.5 percent increase from a year earlier. Production and nonsupervisory workers earned an average of $32.07 per hour, also up 0.2 percent.
Health care led hiring with 76,000 jobs added in March. Ambulatory health-care services increased by 54,000, hospitals by 15,000, and offices of physicians gained 35,000 as workers returned from a strike. Construction added 26,000 jobs, transportation and warehousing rose by 21,000—including a 20,000 increase in couriers and messengers—and social assistance grew by 14,000.
Federal government employment declined by 18,000 in March and remains down 355,000, or 11.8 percent, since its peak in October 2024. Payrolls in financial activities fell by 15,000.
The average private-sector workweek shortened by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours, while manufacturing hours held steady at 40.2.
Upcoming Labor Market Releases
The Employment Situation for April 2026 is scheduled for Friday, May 8, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for March will be released Tuesday, May 5, at 10:00 a.m. ET.
