National employment trends were mixed in March, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.
The unemployment rate ticked down one tenth of one percentage point over the last month, to 7.6 percent. Compared to a year ago, the unemployment rate has fallen six tenths of a percentage point.
Minority unemployment rates remain high, but are also improving. Black unemployment was 13.3 percent, down half a percentage point. Hispanic unemployment was 9.2 percent after a similar decline. Teens 16-19 years of age continue to have the highest unemployment rate at 24.2 percent; yet even this group saw their rate drop by almost a full percentage point. Veterans of the second Gulf War also experience high unemployment in the civilian world, with a rate of 9.2 percent.
Employers added 88,000 jobs in March, mostly in the construction, business and professional services, and education and health services sectors. Retail trade lost the most jobs during the month.
More troubling, the labor force participation rate fell two tenths of a percentage point to 63.3 percent as 496,000 Americans stopped working or looking for work.
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