Newsroom

April 04, 2014

March unemployment rate unchanged from February

April 7, 2014 – While the labor force expanded by 503,000 workers in February, the unemployment rate remained at 6.7 percent, according to a NAFCU Macro Data Flash.

NAFCU Senior Economist Curt Long analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed that 192,000 non-farm jobs were created in March. Numbers from February and January were also revised upward by 22,000 and 15,000, respectively.

"The labor force participation rate increased to 63.2 percent," Long explained. "The unemployment rate remained at 6.7 percent as 503,000 individuals entered the labor force … The Federal Reserve will continue to watch the employment situation as they assess how much to taper their asset purchase program throughout the year."

Government jobs experienced no total change – local government employment increased by 11,000 jobs while state and federal government lost 2,000 and 9,000 jobs, respectively. The greatest growth occurred in the business services sector (57,000) and the education and health services sector (34,000), while the manufacturing sector lost 1,000 jobs.