March jobs report shows strong growth as the labor market continues to recover at a rapid pace
Below, EPI economists offer their initial insights on the jobs report released this morning, which showed 431,000 jobs added in March.
From EPI senior economist, Elise Gould (@eliselgould):
Read the full Twitter thread here.
Overall employment is now just 1% from its pre-pandemic level. Private-sector jobs record strong gains rising 426,000 in March with notable jobs added in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and retail trade. Public-sector employment still slow to return.
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) April 1, 2022
Turning to the household survey, the unemployment rate fell to 3.6% as more workers (re)entered the labor force and got jobs. The pick-up in the employment-to-population ratio for workers 25-54 was outstanding, hitting 80.0% in March 2020, 0.5 pps below its pre-pandemic level. pic.twitter.com/ctJHab2lbJ
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) April 1, 2022
The latest data reveals promising gains for Black women and Latina workers (volatile series noted) with a drop in unemployment and increase in employment. They remain short of pre-recession levels, but I’m optimistic they will continue to see gains as the recovery continues. pic.twitter.com/VjspcoJi9c
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) April 1, 2022
From EPI president, Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz):
Read the full Twitter thread here.
We added 431,000 jobs in March, for a total of 8.4 million jobs added since the end of 2020. It’s mindbogglingly fast and sustained growth—well over half a million jobs added per month on average for 15 months. 1/
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) April 1, 2022
We are on pace to recover nearly EIGHT YEARS faster than we recovered from the Great Recession. (I’ll re-up that prime age EPOP chart to drive home that point.) 4/ pic.twitter.com/f33yZDP1g7
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) April 1, 2022
Totally unlike in the Great Recession and its aftermath, Congress did what was needed to spur a strong recovery this time around (namely CARES and ARPA). We would have millions fewer jobs today if Congress had not enacted the Covid relief and recovery measures it did. 6/
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) April 1, 2022
Without the strong jobs recovery created by CARES and ARPA, this burst of mostly inevitable inflation would’ve been much much more damaging to working families. 11/
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) April 1, 2022
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