Unemployment Rate Falls Again in March, Economy Adds 216,000 Jobs

huffingtonpost

In March, the U.S. economy added 216,000 new jobs, beating Wall Street expectations and continuing a trend of solid job growth. This is the second straight month of gains in the 200,000 range -- the benchmark number that economists say the American economy must hit, month over month, in order to bring the unemployment down to pre-recession levels in 5 years.

The unemployment rate dropped from 8.9 to 8.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data released this morning. The labor force participation rate held steady, indicating that the pool of millions of Americans who have grown too discouraged to seek work have not begun to return to the job market.

"It's a good report, a little better than expected, especially the dip in the unemployment rate for the right reasons," said Stuart Hoffman, an economist at PNC Financial Group. "More people are finding work. It's not just people disappearing in the statistical cracks," he said.

In January, for instance, the unemployment rate fell from 9.4 to 9 percent -- but only 36,000 new jobs were created. "What's been missing in the economy is job growth: well, we've now got two months of job growth back to back of over 200,000 jobs in the private sector," Hoffman said.

The unemployment rate has dropped from over 9% in January to around 8% in March. The economy IS recovering, although slowly. It takes a lot of time and stimulus to repair the damage done to the world by the recklessness of Wall Street and the banks.

Disheartening statistics, though, show that people with college Bachelor's degrees are getting jobs quicker and doing better than those without.

I'm a strong believer in higher education, but I do not think it should be essential for survival. Many people just cannot afford the time and expense. Some are depended upon by their families and must work to provide their basic human needs. Others don't have the money and don't want to put themselves into debt for years to pay off college loans.

There are many jobs which honestly do not require a degree. There used to be apprenticeships in the skilled trades, where people learned to excel in their line of work and were paid more than decently in return for the time and effort it took them to acquire mastery. Apprenticeships, unfortunately, are rapidly disappearing.

In my opinion, many employers just want to see a degree to show that the applicant has the intelligence and perseverance to acquire it. It's a sort of status thing -- the ability to boast about the exclusivity of their firm. In truth, even college graduates have to be trained in their jobs once they get them, just as non-college-graduates would have to be. It's just a way to screen out the less privileged members of society.

I once worked as a temp for a company that offered me a permanent job. Another temp I worked with had had twenty years of secretarial experience, but could not be considered for permanent employment as a secretary because she had no degree. In truth, she was better at her job than I was. She knew just about everything there is to know about her profession but still they did not make her an offer. It didn't seem reasonable to me.

you don't actully belive those stats do you? un employment is at a all time high, the government is just really good at false stats.

I bet it's lowering because of people giving up on finding jobs, which the government counts as employed, and the rise in McJobs. Can't be optimistic about that.

reply to post by mojoarian


you stole my post lol...star for you for saying it first...its the absolute truth!!! i know more people on unemployment now than i have ever known...and they are lying about it to make it seem like things are better then they really are..its just the disinfo bs to make us not think about how far in deepsh#t this country is

reply to post by Sestias


Ha! That was problably best April Fools joke Ive heard all today. I think this one goes in to the top 10 of all time.

unemployment is down, no problem from the BP spill, no problem from Japan, the president and gov't care about you and only have your best interest in mind, and yes virginia there is a Santa Claus.
Sweet dreams

Absolutely laughable.

I'm tired of being fed the same crap about how everything is getting better from everywhere.

I'm not seeing it... I'm certainly hearing it, but not seeing anything that corroborates what I'm hearing.

If you read the details of this report, about 30,000 of the jobs are temporary. Mind you, if you're unemployed even a temp job looks pretty good.

I agree with the comments that employers are showing preference for college grads, even when a college education is not needed. If you are a 'mere' high school grad, you are really screwed in this economy without some kind of certification or diploma.

reply to post by Unit541


Exactly. We keep hearing about how everything seems to be right on track here in good ole north america.. Sure as hell does not look that way. It just makes it that much worse when your are treated like an idiot and they just think because they throw something on the news it makes it true and real.

yeah compare those stats to how many new people are only welfare and getting unemployment

how many people are under employed while your at it.

i trust those numbers about as much as i trust lyndsey lohan in a jewelry store

reply to post by mojoarian


This story is not only in the Huffington Post, it's all over the news. Except Fox, of course. They never have and never will say anything positive at all about Democrats.

Originally posted by neo96
yeah compare those stats to how many new people are only welfare and getting unemployment

how many people are under employed while your at it.

i trust those numbers about as much as i trust lyndsey lohan in a jewelry store

ROFLMA, pwnd! I agree 100% the government manipulates the stats in 1000 different ways, they always have and always will, you just can't have the surfs well informed less you lose your iron grip on control.

Originally posted by Sestias
reply to post by mojoarian

 

This story is not only in the Huffington Post, it's all over the news. Except Fox, of course. They never have and never will say anything positive at all about Democrats.

Maybe because there is nothing positive to say? Truth be told, probably isn't anything positive to say about Republicans either, it is an illusionary scheme to make it seem like there can be change if things are happening you don't like. The two party system is a scam.

reply to post by neo96


The real story is that corporations are posting record profits, and Wall Street keeps going up and up. CEO's are still making millions and most have gotten raises this year.

Corporations have gotten billions through tax cuts, and some companies like GE pay no taxes at all. These tax cuts have added enormously to the deficit, which the privileged say should be paid for through cutting social programs. Certainly they want the government bonanza to continue for themselves.

The middle and working classes, however, are suffering the most in this recession. The corporations, which Republicans insist MUST be bankrolled by taxpayers, are creating jobs all right -- in China and Bangladesh and other countries where labor is dirt cheap. Not here. Record profits do not translate into large increases in hiring. Those who are not sharing in the wealth are most likely those you know, as they comprise a huge segment of the population.

According to Ayn-Rand-type thinking, the fact that the folks on top are rolling in dough should increase the financial well-being of everyone. But alas, "trickle down" economics is a farce and always has been. It's just a method of redistributing the nation's wealth upward.

The working class has always known this, and the middle class is just now beginning to wake up to it.

Wake up and stand up with us.

reply to post by Sestias


corporations are making profits thats why they exist you have to remember corporations are diversified that means they have assets worldwide not just here and more to the point they are better and smarter with their money than the majority of people in this country and obviously the federal government.

when tough times come they cut back the dont keep doing what they all know isnt working.