U.S. Economy Added 162,000 Jobs in March, Most in 3 Years

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/economy/03jobs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss


The American economy added 162,000 jobs in March, offering some hope that the labor market, after shedding millions of jobs during the recession, has reached a turning point.

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The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. It is expected to worsen later this year as discouraged workers re-enter the labor force.

The pace of job growth in March was the best in three years, bolstering hopes that the still-sputtering recovery was gaining traction.

But economists sounded a cautious note, pointing out that a sizable portion of the growth came from the government’s hiring of 48,000 census workers, mostly temporary jobs. There were clear signs, however, that the private sector was slowly gaining strength: over all, it added 123,000 jobs last month.