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The latest job report for March provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of employment in the United States. 

March’s Key Findings

March 2025 saw an increase of 228,000 jobs in total nonfarm payroll employment, surpassing the average monthly gain of 158,000 over the past year. The unemployment rate remained relatively stable at 4.2 percent, with little change across major demographic groups.

Key sectors include:

• Healthcare
• Social Assistance
• Transportation & Warehousing
• Retail Trade

Sector-Specific Employment Changes

Employment trends in March 2025 varied across industries, with notable gains in several key sectors. 

Healthcare

The health care sector led the way, adding 54,000 jobs. Employment growth was observed in ambulatory health care services (+20,000 jobs), hospitals (+17,000 jobs), and nursing and residential care facilities (+17,000 jobs), continuing consistent upward trends in these areas.

Social Assistance

In social assistance, employment increased by 24,000 jobs, exceeding the average monthly growth of 19,000 jobs over the past year. Most of this growth occurred within individual and family services, which added 22,000 jobs during the month.

Transportation & Warehousing

The transportation and warehousing sector added 23,000 jobs in March, significantly outpacing the average monthly gain of 12,000 jobs over the previous year. This growth was primarily attributed to job increases in couriers and messengers (+16,000 jobs) and truck transportation (+10,000 jobs), although these gains were partially offset by a decline in warehousing and storage employment (-9,000 jobs).

Retail Trade

Retail trade also experienced job growth, with employment rising by 24,000 jobs. This increase was largely driven by the return of workers in food and beverage retailers (+21,000 jobs) following a strike. However, general merchandise retailers saw a reduction of 5,000 jobs. Despite these changes, overall employment in retail trade has remained relatively stable over the past year.

Other Sectors

In the government sector, federal employment decreased by 4,000 jobs, continuing a downward trend that included an 11,000 job decline in February.

Other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, information, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and mining, showed little to no change in employment during March.

Unemployment Rates

The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2 percent, with little change across major demographic groups. The total number of unemployed individuals was 7.1 million, reflecting stability in unemployment figures since May 2024, when the rate fluctuated between 4.0 percent and 4.2 percent.

Among adult men, the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, while adult women had a slightly lower rate at 3.7 percent. Teenagers experienced a significantly higher rate of unemployment at 13.7 percent. Unemployment rates by race and ethnicity showed minimal change compared to previous months: 3.7% for the white population, 6.2% for the Black population, 3.5% for the Asian population, and 5.1% for the Hispanic population.

The number of long-term unemployed individuals—those without a job for 27 weeks or more—was 1.5 million in March, unchanged from prior months. These individuals accounted for 21.3 percent of all unemployed persons.

Wage Growth & Average Workweek

The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 9 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $36.00. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 3.8 percent, continuing a moderate trend of wage growth. For private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings edged up by 5 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $30.96.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained unchanged at 34.2 hours in March. In the manufacturing sector, the average workweek was stable at 40.2 hours, with overtime holding steady at 2.9 hours. For production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls, the average workweek increased slightly by 0.2 hours, reaching 33.8 hours. These figures reflect minimal variation in work hours over the month.

Updates To Prior Months' Employment Data

The total nonfarm payroll employment figures for January and February were revised downward, reflecting updated data. January’s employment gain was adjusted from 125,000 jobs to 111,000 jobs, while February’s was revised from 151,000 jobs to 117,000 jobs. These revisions indicate that employment in those two months was 48,000 jobs lower than previously reported. Such monthly adjustments are common and result from additional data submitted by businesses and government agencies, as well as updated seasonal factor calculations.

For further reading, check out our other blogs on topics related to the job market.

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