Employment Situation

March 2026

Released April 03, 2026

+178K
Change in nonfarm payroll jobs
Feb 2026 to Mar 2026

-0.1 percent
Change in unemployment rate
Feb 2026 to Mar 2026

-0.1 percent
Change in labor force participation rate
Feb 2026 to Mar 2026

From February 2026 to March 2026:

• Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 178K to 158.64 million.
  • Private sector payroll employment increased by 186K to 135.32 million.
  • Government payroll employment decreased by 8K to 23.32 million.
• The headline unemployment rate (U-3) decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.3 percent.
  • The broadest measure of unemployment (U-6, which adds underemployment to unemployment) increased by 0.1 percentage points to 8.0 percent.
• The labor force participation rate (LFPR) decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 61.9 percent.

From February 2026 to March 2026:

• The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+91K) and leisure and hospitality (+44K).
• The worst performing sectors were federal government (-18K) and financial activities (-15K).

From March 2025 to March 2026:

• The best performing sectors were private education and health services (+663K) and leisure and hospitality (+176K).
• The worst performing sectors were federal government (-330K) and trade, transportation, and utilities (-154K).

From March 2025 to March 2026:

• For all employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.52 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.52 percent.
• For production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls:
  • Average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.69 percent.
  • Average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.38 percent.

Table 1. Labor Indicators

	Mar 2026	Feb 2026	M/M change	Mar 2025	Y/Y change
Payroll jobs
Nonfarm	158.637M	158.459M	178K	158.377M	260K
Private	135.320M	135.134M	186K	134.818M	502K
Government	23.317M	23.325M	-8K	23.559M	-242K
Unemployment
Official rate (U-3)	4.3%	4.4%	-0.1pp	4.2%	0.1pp
Broader rate (U-6)	8.0%	7.9%	0.1pp	7.9%	0.1pp
Labor force participation rate
16 years and over	61.9%	62.0%	-0.1pp	62.5%	-0.6pp
Prime age (25-54 years)	83.8%	83.9%	-0.1pp	83.3%	0.5pp
Employment-to-Population Ratio	59.2%	59.3%	-0.1pp	59.9%	-0.7pp

Table 2. Earnings Indicators

	Mar 2026	Feb 2026	M/M change	Mar 2025	Y/Y change
Production and non-supervisory
Hourly earnings	$32.07	$32.02	0.16%	$31.02	3.38%
Weekly earnings	$1,083.97	$1,082.28	0.16%	$1,045.37	3.69%
All employees
Hourly earnings	$37.38	$37.29	0.24%	$36.11	3.52%
Weekly earnings	$1,278.40	$1,279.05	-0.05%	$1,234.96	3.52%

Table 3. Revisions

	1st	2nd	3rd	Net revision
Nonfarm jobs added
March 2026	178K
February 2026	-92K	-133K		-41K
January 2026	130K	126K	160K	30K

Table 4. Comparison to ADP Estimate

	BLS	ADP	Difference
Private nonfarm jobs added	186K	62K	124K

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

February 2026

Released March 31, 2026

-358K
Change in nonfarm job openings
Jan 2026 to Feb 2026

-498K
Change in nonfarm hires
Jan 2026 to Feb 2026

-173K
Change in nonfarm separations
Jan 2026 to Feb 2026

Job Openings: The total number of nonfarm job openings decreased by 358K to 6.88 million, and the rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.2 percent.

• The best performing sectors were other services (+77K) and professional and business services (+64K).
• The worst performing sectors were leisure and hospitality (-213K) and private education and health services (-78K).

Hires: The total number of nonfarm hires decreased by 498K to 4.85 million, and the rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.1 percent.

• The best performing sectors were financial activities (+40K) and state and local government (+8K).
• The worst performing sectors were leisure and hospitality (-185K) and professional and business services (-154K).

Separations: The total number of nonfarm separations decreased by 173K to 4.97 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.1 percent.

• Quits decreased by 157K to 2.97 million, and the rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 1.9 percent.
• Layoffs and discharges increased by 61K to 1.72 million, and the rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 1.1 percent.
• Other separations decreased by 75K to 277K, and the rate remained unchanged at 0.2 percent.

Table 5. JOLTS Level Indicators

	Feb 2026	Jan 2026	M/M change	Feb 2025	Y/Y change
Job openings level
Nonfarm	6.882M	7.240M	-358K	7.242M	-360K
Private	6.181M	6.488M	-307K	6.367M	-186K
Hire level
Nonfarm	4.849M	5.347M	-498K	5.236M	-387K
Private	4.523M	5.026M	-503K	4.903M	-380K
Separation level
Nonfarm	4.971M	5.144M	-173K	5.285M	-314K
Private	4.657M	4.820M	-163K	4.950M	-293K

Table 6. JOLTS Rate Indicators

	Feb 2026	Jan 2026	M/M change	Feb 2025	Y/Y change
Job openings rate
Nonfarm	4.2%	4.4%	-0.2pp	4.4%	-0.2pp
Private	4.4%	4.6%	-0.2pp	4.5%	-0.1pp
Hire rate
Nonfarm	3.1%	3.4%	-0.3pp	3.3%	-0.2pp
Private	3.3%	3.7%	-0.4pp	3.6%	-0.3pp
Separation rate
Nonfarm	3.1%	3.2%	-0.1pp	3.3%	-0.2pp
Private	3.4%	3.6%	-0.2pp	3.7%	-0.3pp

Upcoming releases

Date	Time	Release	Data source
Apr 07	10:00 AM	Monthly Debt Update, April 2026	U.S. Treasury
Apr 08	10:00 AM	State Employment and Unemployment, January 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Apr 10	08:30 AM	Monthly Inflation Update, March 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Apr 13	10:00 AM	Monthly Fiscal Update, March 2026	U.S. Treasury
Apr 22	10:00 AM	State Employment and Unemployment, February 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Apr 30	08:30 AM	Monthly Expenditures Update, March 2026	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Apr 30	08:30 AM	Monthly GDP Update, Q1 2026 Advance Estimate	Bureau of Economic Analysis

Notes

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; ADP National Employment Report; JEC Republicans calculations

“pp” = percentage points; “M/M” = month over month; “Y/Y” = year over year

Consistent with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, monthly figures are seasonally adjusted. Discrepancy in change figures is possible due to rounding.