District of Columbia

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 jobs in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The number, which reflects a slowdown in growth relative to February — which saw the addition of 326,000 jobs — largely aligns with the predictions of economists. According to CNBC, the figure marks the lowest monthly gain since December 2020, following moves by the Federal Reserve to cool labor demand in the interest of combating inflation. The number also falls below the average monthly gain of 334,000 jobs for the previous six months. Leisure and hospitality added 72,000 jobs in March, 24 percent below the average monthly gain for the prior six months (95,000). Food-and-beverage represented the bulk of the growth, adding 50,000 jobs. Government and professional and business services employment grew by 47,000 and 39,000 jobs, respectively. Healthcare added 34,000 jobs, with growth in home health services, hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities. Employment in transportation and warehousing increased marginally, adding 10,000 positions. Employment in the retail trade saw a decrease of 15,000 jobs. The unemployment rate also decreased slightly, coming down to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent. Unemployed persons totaled 5.8 million.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nonfarm employment in the United States rose by 311,000 jobs in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This number marks a slowdown from January, in which 504,000 jobs were added to the economy, but surpassed expectations from Dow Jones economists who estimated that the economy would add 225,000 jobs in February, according to CNBC. (The January jobs total was revised down by 13,000 jobs, from 517,000 to 504,000.) The unemployment rate also experienced a slight elevation in February, reaching 3.6 percent, a 20-basis-point increase. Long-term joblessness accounted for 17.6 percent of overall unemployment, remaining relatively unchanged from previous months. Leisure and hospitality, retail, government and healthcare experienced notable job gains. Leisure and hospitality — though still below its pre-pandemic level of employment by 2.4 percent — added 105,000 jobs. Retail and government added 50,000 and 46,000 jobs, respectively. Declines in employment were observed in the information and transportation and warehousing industries, which saw a collective loss of 47,000 jobs. Carlos Vaz of CONTI Capital projects that the strong jobs reports thus far in 2023 may portend further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. “Despite the decrease in job growth from the previous …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 517,000 in January, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The monthly figure nearly triples the estimate from Dow Jones economists of 187,000 jobs, according to CNBC. Additionally, the outlet reports that the January unemployment rate is the lowest jobless level for the U.S. economy since May 1969. Just like the December report, the leisure and hospitality sector was the leading job creator in January with 128,000 new jobs. This surpasses the monthly average for the sector in 2022 of 89,000 jobs. Despite the recent gains, the leisure and hospitality industry still falls below its pre-pandemic employment level by 2.9 percent, or 495,000 jobs, according to the BLS. Government added 74,000 jobs in January, led by state government education with 35,000 new jobs. The BLS attributes the increase to the return of University of California workers after their strike ended in December. Other notable gains were seen in professional and business services (+82,000 jobs), healthcare (+58,000), retail trade (+30,000), construction (+25,000) and transportation and warehousing (+23,000). The BLS also revised its November and December jobs report summaries to the tune …