Unemployment rate unchanged at 5.7 percent

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 308,000 in March. This is the first real job growth for the administration.

The unemployment rate, 5.7 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, 8.4 million, were essentially unchanged in March. Both measures remained below their recent highs of June 2003. Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.2 percent), adult women (5.1 percent), teenagers (16.5 percent), whites (5.1 percent), blacks (10.2 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.4 percent)--showed little or no change over the month.

In March, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons increased to 4.7 million, about the same level as in January. These individuals indicated that they would like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time jobs.

The number of persons who were marginally attached to the labor force totaled 1.6 million in March, about the same as a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Household data continues to contradict establishment data. The survey of households indicates that employment went down 3,000. That unemployment went up 182,000 and the number NOT in labor force also went up 14,000.

Average hourly earnings went up $0.02 and average weekly earnings went down $0.88.

Inside the numbers - the trash smells.