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Investing April 5, 2002
Unemployment Edges Back Up
April 5, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The unemployment
rate inched up by 0.2% in March, a further sign that the
economic recovery is struggling to take hold.
Reported by Camilla Klein
According to data from the US Department of Labor (DoL), the unemployment rate ticked up to a worse than anticipated 5.7% in March from 5.5% in February. This translates to 8.1 million unemployed workers.
While the March reading was largely in line with expectations – and the 58,000 jobs added somewhat better than anticipated – the DOL drastically revised the jobs added figure for February. Instead of a 66,000 job gain, the figure was revised down to reveal a 2,000 drop in payrolls. No explanation for the adjustment was given.
Figures from the DoL show that the number of workers on US payrolls grew by 58,000 in March, a slightly larger increase than the 41,000 projected by economists in a Reuters poll.
Manufacturing and construction each lost nearly 40,000 jobs in March, but services employment grew substantially – the largest gain in a year and a half for the sector. The losses in manufacturing were the lowest since late 2000, according to Reuters.
Both the manufacturing workweek and overtime hours rose over the month.