HICKEY Jobs Report Update March 2022
Hickey Jobs Report Update – U.S. surprisingly beat expectations by adding 678,000 jobs in February 2022
The U.S. economy continued to push closer to pre-pandemic employment levels as the nation added 431,000 jobs in March. With the additions to the nation’s payrolls, America’s unemployment rate is down to 3.6 percent, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report.
Once again, gains were seen across industries in March, including office, industrial, and distribution sectors. Hourly wages continued to tick up, which have now increased by 5.6 percent over the previous 12 months.
We’re tracking these latest updates, along with labor force participation rates, wage shifts, and inflationary concerns – here are the five things you need to know from the latest U.S. Jobs Report:
The torrid streak of hiring in 2022 continued with the addition of 431,000 jobs in March – which means the American economy has added over 1.7 million workers since the beginning of the calendar year.
In a shift from remote roles, a return to the office trend has sparked significant hiring in facility management sectors. Professional and Business Services sector had robust gains with 102,000 new jobs in March.
Hourly wages continued to rise in March, resulting in an increase of 5.6 percent over the past twelve months. Compensation is still following the consumer price index, now at nearly 8 percent, a key inflationary measurement.
With an additional 19,000 jobs across the Construction industry sectors, employment has now officially returned to pre-pandemic levels. Certainly a strong sign for a sector that has had significant ripple effects across the economy.
The national unemployment rate dropped again over the previous month to 3.6 percent, which is remarkably close to pre-pandemic levels of 3.5 percent. However, little change was seen in the overall Labor Participation Rate, another core metric tracking economic health.
For more information and insights on the latest U.S. Jobs Report, check the latest update from our Hickey Location Analytics and Incentives Team: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary website.
Report Summary
Often referred to as the U.S. Jobs Report, the April 2022 Employment Situation Summary, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report, showed a robust continuance of the hiring trends in the first quarter of 2022. In the first three months alone, the nation has added over 1.7 million jobs across the economy.
As similar to the previous months, the federal labor agency modified estimations from earlier periods, further bumping up the 2022 figures. For January and February, the new job count was revised up by 23,000 and 72,000, respectively. Altogether, these modifications increased the estimates by 95,000 for 2022.
Strongest gains were in Leisure & Hospitality, Professional & Business Services, Retail, Social Assistance, and Financial Activities, among others.
As more jobs are added to the payrolls, the nation’s unemployment rate continued to decline, ticking down to 3.6 percent. While the number of unemployed persons dropped by 318,000 to 6 million, the overall labor force participation rate was little changed at 62.4 percent. Adult women saw the biggest reduction in unemployment, which now sits at 3.3 percent. With this latest hiring bump, unemployment has almost reached pre-pandemic levels of 3.5 percent.
Across the economy, hourly wages increased by 13 cents to $31.73 in March. That increase ticks up total wage inflation to 5.6 percent over the previous twelve months, which is a reverse of the downward curve we saw in February. Overall, wage inflation slowed down in the previous month following a 5.1 percent increase over the previous year. As gas prices skyrocketed during the surveyed period, inflationary concerns have continued to rise throughout the nation. With the consumer price index rising to nearly 8 percent over the last year, wage increases are still trailing behind cost surges.
Key Industries
Leisure and Hospitality
Over the past month, the leisure and hospitality sectors continued surging by increasing payrolls with 112,000 jobs in March. Altogether, the largest gains came from food services and drinking places at 61,000 new jobs, with accommodations adding 25,000 workers. Overall, industry employment is still down by 1.5 million, or 8.7 percent.
Professional and Business Services
By adding 102,000 jobs in March, the professional and business services sectors’ payrolls are now 723,000 above pre-pandemic levels. Services to buildings and dwellings and accounting and bookkeeping services were the largest gainers with 22,000 and 18,000 new jobs, respectively.
Manufacturing
Building on the gains already this year, manufacturing added 38,000 jobs in March. Durable goods led the way with 22,000 new workers, while nondurable goods manufacturers also added 16,000 jobs. In total, manufacturing employment is one percent, or 126,000 jobs, below pre-COVID levels.
Retail Trade
Coming back from the devastating impact of the pandemic, retail trade added another 49,000 jobs in March. Led by general merchandise stores with 20,000 new jobs, the industry is now 278,000 jobs above February 2020 levels.
Transportation and Warehousing
As the true darling of the post-pandemic recovery, the transportation and warehousing industry finally had a slower month in March. Following robust growth in the first two months of 2022, there was little change in the industry over the previous month. Regardless of the slight slowdown, sector employment has more than 600,000 workers above payroll levels in February 2020.
Construction
The construction industry picked up more steam in the previous month by adding 19,000 jobs. Overall, the dynamic industry has virtually returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Other Notable Industries
In other notable industries, financial businesses added 16,000 jobs, social assistance organizations increased employment by 25,000, and health care employed an additional 8,000 workers.
For more information on the latest Jobs Report, including additional details on the data concepts and statistical methodologies utilized, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary website.
If you are interested in learning more about the jobs reports, along with how we support our clients with dynamic labor analytics, we would be excited to connect one of our location strategy experts: