U.S. Edition
New York - (CNNMoney.com) - The economy had its biggest jump in jobs in three years in March, 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 since the start of 2008 that employers did not cut payrolls. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a gain of 184,000 jobs.
While the news was positive, there were a number of short-term factors that inflated the reading, including an addition of 48,000 by the Census Bureau as it geared up for the once-in-a-decade headcount of the U.S. population. March's count was also bolstered by seasonal factors - February's numbers had been depressed by temporary job losses related to severe winter storms last month.
Still the addition was good news for an economy that has suffered a net loss of 8.2 million jobs since the start of 2008, a month after the official start of the recession.
January's reading was revised from a loss to a gain of 14,000 jobs, and February's job loss was also narrowed in the revision. The only other month with even a modest job gain was November 2009, when there was a net gain of 64,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate held steady 9.7% in February, matching economist expectations.
Without turning this into a political debate today, ANY month that sees an increase of 162,000 jobs is a good month in America!
if congress wants to do something about jobs,,, cut tax breaks for these companies who out source jobs over seas ,, stop these insane bonus for the c e o ,'s, ...
We've come a long way since losing nearly 800,000 jobs/month starting in 2009.
Good job Obama and the Dems. Please pass a WPA or CCC program that puts even more people back to work.