Payrolls rise 162,000, best gain in three years

[jefferson_dem]

Payrolls rise 162,000, best gain in three years
Excluding Census workers, U.S. payrolls rise by 114,000 in March

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. economy created 162,000 jobs in March, the largest seasonally adjusted increase in nonfarm payrolls in three years, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls rose for just the second time in the past 27 months, boosted by the hiring of 48,000 temporary workers to conduct the Census. Excluding the Census workers, payrolls rose by 114,000.

The unemployment rate was steady at 9.7%, with the labor force rising by 398,000.

The report was largely in line with expectations. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were forecasting a 200,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls, with about half of those coming from temporary hires at the Census Bureau. Economists expected the unemployment rate to remain at 9.7%.

Ahead of the report, economists cautioned against reading too much into it, in light of the temporary hiring by the Census and the likely rebound from two massive snowstorms during the survey week in February.

Despite the special factors in March, "the underlying story is one of continued, moderate economic growth," said John Silvia, chief economist for Wells Fargo Securities.

A year ago, payrolls were falling by an average of more than 700,000 per month. Since the recession began in December 2007, 8.2 million jobs have been lost.

Payroll gains were broad based, with 60% of all industries adding workers in March.

<SNIP>

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/payrolls-rise-162000-best-gain-in-three-years-2010-04-02-83000?siteid=rss&rss=1

[impik]

1. Well, it's a long climb, but at least we're climbing

[Clio the Leo]

2. lol and after briefly mentioning it between commercials....

.... on Morning Joe ... it's BACK to the Obama bashing.

"but some poll says...."

[NJmaverick]

3. This is certainly more than welcome news

[Peacetrain]

4. Private sector employment rose over 110,000, which is HUGE

HUGE HUGE

also 400,000 (I think that is the number) have come back into the employment arena who were not in it for years. It is keeping the Unemployment Numbers high, but the breakdown on government hiring was much smaller than expected.

These are just not census jobs that will disappear in 10 months.. that is good news

I think they explained it as multiple employed persons households.. or something to that effect.

[Aramchek]

14. Cominayeahaaaah!!

[DrToast]

5. Picture of the Day

[tigereye]

10. wow, that's incredible to look at..

yikes.

[dccrossman]

6. Small step, but still a step

Nice to that there are some jobs being created.

[Kdillard]

7. Good news. Hopefully the next few months will continue to see more good news

On the unemployment front.

[DrToast]

8. More likely the news will be better

We're just getting started on the jobs front.

[brentspeak]

9. "boosted by the hiring of 48,000 temporary workers"

So the actual job increases were in reality no more than 162,000-48,000 = 114,000. And the figures don't provide the quality of the jobs offered: are they McJobs or real jobs?

[jefferson_dem]

11. That's an awful thin reed of doom you're hanging onto there.

Why exert so much energy in Debbie DownerLand? Good news is good news. Smile. :)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

12. Because no job is better than any job, right?

[mkultra]

13. thats right! LAGGING FUCKING INDICATOR