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Washington (AFP) – The unemployment rate continued to fall in the United States in March, by 0.2 points, and falls to 3.6%, now approaching its pre-pandemic level, when it was at its lowest in 50 years, figures that Joe Biden will comment on in the morning.
In addition, 431,000 jobs were created last month, according to data from the Labor Department released Friday, slightly less than the 475,000 that were expected by a consensus of analysts.
That’s also down from 750,000 in February, according to higher-revised data. Job creations rebounded as the threat from Omicron receded.
President Joe Biden is due to speak at 10:45 a.m. (2:45 p.m. GMT) from the White House.
“Notable job gains continued in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail and manufacturing,” the ministry detailed in its statement.
There is still a shortage of 1.6 million jobs compared to February 2020.
The participation rate continues to progress slowly, and is 62.4% (+0.1 point), which shows that people who had moved away from employment are returning to it.
This is good news for employers, who have been facing a labor shortage for months, which is slowing the economy. But it also pushed up wages, especially among those who were on the lowest.
The average hourly wage in the private sector was thus 31.73 dollars in March, 13 cents more than in February, according to the Department of Labor. Wages have thus jumped by 5.6% in one year.
© 2022 AFP
