US economy gains 192,000 jobs in March

Job numbers released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics were strong enough to keep stock markets in the green Friday morning.

Employers added 192,000 jobs in March, slightly below the 200,000 economists expected. The unemployment rate, which is drawn from a different survey of households, remained steady at 6.7%. The labor force participation rate came in at 63.2%, up slightly from February. The employment-population ratio was 58.9%, also just a tick above last month’s number.

Severe weather over the winter did not prevent the monthly average for new jobs from continuing a climb towards pre-economic crisis levels.

Employment grew in health care, and professional and business services, and in mining and logging.

The US Federal Reserve has been watching employment rates as an indicator of economic health.

The central bank has been using such indicators to judge whether a cutting back on stimulus for the US economy is desirable.

In March business services added 57,000 jobs, with 29,000 of those roles being in the temporary help industry.

Computer systems design and related jobs, which fall under business services, added 6,000 posts.

Healthcare gained 19,000 new jobs, and ambulatory healthcare, which includes outpatient care, rose by 20,000. Nursing care lost 5,000 jobs over the period.

Mining and logging rose by 7,000 jobs, against an average growth of 3,000 roles per month over the previous year.

On Friday jobs figures for February were revised up from an estimate of 175,000 to 197,000 new jobs.

The estimate for January was also revised up, from 129,000 to 144,000.