United States: 180,000 Jobs Added In March

Despite problems in the property market, the United States economy added 180,000 jobs last month.

Average hourly earnings for private production and non-supervisory workers rose by 6 cents to $17.22. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 4.0 percent.

The new jobs split was:

Industry Sectors

• Construction employment up by 56,000.
• Retail trade employment up by 36,000.
• Employment in health care up 30,000. Job gains occurred throughout the industry, including doctors’ offices, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities.
• Professional and business services employment was flat in March. Job gains in computer systems design and management consulting were offset by small declines elsewhere in the professional and business services sector.
• Manufacturing employment continued to trend down, by 16,000, with declines in several industries including furniture, computers and electronic products, textile mills, and paper and paper products.

Unemployment by Ethnicity

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for whites decreased to 3.8 percent over the month while unemployment for blacks rose slightly to 8.3 percent and Asian unemployment also rose slightly to 3.0 percent.

Unemployment In America’s States

For the past six months, America’s unemployment rate has been in a narrow band of 4.4 to 4.6 percent. The tables below show states with lower than average, average, and above average unemployment rates.

U.S. States With
Below Average Unemployment Rates

State	Unemployment Rate (%)
Hawaii	2.3
Utah	2.3
Wyoming	2.3
Montana	2.5
Idaho	2.8
Nebraska	2.9
Virginia	2.9
North Dakota	3.2
Alabama	3.3
Florida	3.3
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall	3.3
Iowa	3.3
Delaware	3.4
South Dakota	3.4
New Mexico	3.5
New Hampshire	3.7
Colorado	3.8
Maryland	3.8
Arizona	3.9
Louisiana	3.9
Oklahoma	3.9
Vermont	3.9

U.S. States With
Average Unemployment Rates

State	Unemployment Rate (%)
Pennsylvania	4.0
New Jersey	4.1
Connecticut	4.2
Georgia	4.3
Nevada	4.3
West Virginia	4.3
Kansas	4.4
Maine	4.4
New York	4.4
Rhode Island	4.4
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett	4.4
Minnesota	4.5
North Carolina	4.5
Texas	4.5
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale	4.6
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet	4.7
Indiana	4.7
California	4.8
Illinois	4.8
New York City	4.8
Washington	4.8
Tennessee	4.9

U.S. States With
Above Average Unemployment Rates

State	Unemployment Rate (%)
Arkansas	5.0
Missouri	5.0
Ohio	5.0
Wisconsin	5.0
Massachusetts	5.3
Oregon	5.3
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor	5.4
Kentucky	5.7
District of Columbia	5.8
Alaska	6.1
South Carolina	6.1
Detroit-Warren-Livonia	6.4
Michigan	6.6
Mississippi	6.7
Puerto Rico	11.4