Total nonfarm employment grew in 15 out of 25 major industries in March, as overall employment growth continues to be driven by job gains in health care and social assistance (77,800). For the third consecutive month, employment grew in transportation and warehousing (22,900). Other sectors that saw employment gains in March include accommodation/food services (30,600) and retail trade (23,700), reflecting work stoppages ending and workers returning after reaching labor agreements.
Overall government employment grew by 19,000 jobs, though employment gains were entirely concentrated at the state and local level, with local governments alone adding 17,000 jobs last month. A recent analysis from the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas suggests more than 216,000 announced job cuts in March stem from actions to reduce the size of the federal workforce. However, it will take time before the announced layoffs of federal civilian workers are reflected in official BLS job numbers. The BLS noted that employees who are on paid leave or receiving severance pay are counted as employed in its survey. Additionally, litigation is ongoing as several federal courts have ruled that thousands of federal workers should be reinstated, although the Supreme Court has halted the reinstatement of probationary workers across six agencies.
On the other hand, three sectors that experienced modest job gains in the previous report experienced employment declines between February and March. Employment fell by 3,000 in durable goods manufacturing and by 2,000 in wholesale trade. After gaining 8,800 jobs in February, employment in administrative and support services declined by 10,600 in March.
