The U.S. economy gained more jobs in March than any other month in the last three years, according to a government report released Friday.
The Labor Department said the economy gained 162,000 jobs in the month, compared to a revised reading of a 14,000 job loss in February. That makes March only the third month of gains since the recession began.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a gain of 184,000 jobs. But despite missing forecasts, the March number was generally not seen as a disappointment by economists, because revisions in January and February readings added a combined 62,000 additional jobs.
The unemployment rate remained stubbornly high, holding steady at 9.7%, matching economist expectations.
Actually, most economists were expecting a half point or so drop because of temporary guv'mint hiring for the upcoming census, which accounts for almost 50,000 of those 162,000 jobs..almost a third. Another 40,000 of the jobs are designated as temporary , and guv'mint employment including state and and national rose another 39,000.If you look at the raw data, only about a third of those new jobs are being created in the private sector.
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