The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its March
employment / unemployment report on April 3^rd, 2026.

Employment / Unemployment 

• Seasonally Adjusted U-3 is 4.3% down from 4.4%
• Unadjusted U-3 is also 4.3% down from 4.7%
• Unadjusted U-6 is 8.0% it was 8.3%
• Labor Force Participation is 61.9% it was 62.0%
• Unadjusted Employment rose from 157.204 million to 157.775 million 
• Next Update: May 8^th, 2026

Summary:
The BLS adjusted its February employment numbers downward by 82,000 this month, from 157.286 million to 157.204 million. But the March numbers are still up to 157.775 million. The Census numbers are also a bit unusual this month, in that the U.S. Census Population Clock said 343,369,720 last month, and now it says: 342,414,097. For a decrease of almost 956,000. Since the clock is just an automated estimate, the Census Bureau adjusts it annually to better reflect current population estimates.

According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 178,000 in March, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. Federal government employment continued to decline.” 

So, despite declines in Government employment, overall employment still increased.

Note: According to Politifact, “The federal workforce grew by about 4.8% during Biden’s term, increasing from 2.89 million in January 2021 to 3.02 million in January 2025.”  According to the Economic Policy Institute, “Federal employment has declined by 352,000 jobs since January 2025.”

As usual, they are talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs”.

Looking at the Unadjusted Establishment Survey report we see…
Originally, the BLS reported employment of 156.714 million for January, which they adjusted slightly to 156.723 million in February and up again to 156.728 million this month.

They originally reported 157.286 million jobs for February, which they adjusted down to 157.204 million this month.

Current March numbers are 157.775 million for an increase of 571,000 jobs based on their current numbers or +489,000 based on the original numbers.

Current Unemployment Rate Chart

According to the BLS Commissioner’s report:

Household Survey Data:  “Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.2 million, changed little in March… The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.9 million in February but is up from 1.5 million a year earlier. The long-term unemployed accounted for 25.3 percent of all unemployed people in February.

Editor’s Note: The total number of unemployed was 7.6 million in February.

Establishment Survey Data: Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 178,000 in March, following a decrease in February (-133,000). In March, job gains occurred in health care, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. Federal government employment continued to decline. Payroll employment had changed little on net over the prior 12 months.

Current Employment Chart

See Current Employment  for more information.

BLS: March 2026 Employment by Sector

The BLS employment “bubble chart” based on the Establishment Survey Data gives us a good picture of the Seasonally Adjusted employment numbers.

The Bubble’s Size tells us the total Employment for that industry (i.e., larger bubbles mean more people are employed in that sector).

The bubble’s location on the chart tells us that there has been a change in Employment Levels over the most recent month… A bubble further to the right indicates larger job growth. A bubble’s vertical location on the chart shows the average industry salary.

Remember, these are Seasonally Adjusted Numbers, so they aren’t cumulative!

Looking at the above chart, we can see that only 4 sectors didn’t show employment growth in March, which is quite the opposite of February. But average weekly wages declined slightly. However, they are still above January’s average weekly wages and 3.8% above the average weekly wages of March 2025.

BLS Average Weekly Wages

BLS Employment Levels by Industry

March 2026, Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Note: The monthly increase is Seasonally Adjusted, so even though Mining and Logging in February was 600,000 and March was 603,000, which looks like a 3,000 increase, the BLS reports it as a 2,000 increase.

Source: BLS

ADP^® National Employment Report

ADP provides an independent (non-government) estimate of private-sector employment and pay, based on data derived from ADP client payrolls. According to ADP®, In collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Note: The numbers are released a few days before the BLS numbers and are often quite different. BLS says +186,000 jobs, ADP says +62,000 jobs.

ADP: Private employers added 62,000 jobs in March

• Hiring and pay gains both held steady in March. The smallest employers drove job growth for a second month, while hiring in trade, transportation, and utilities continued to decline.

Source: ADP®

ADP Private Employment by Establishment Size

ADP Job Gainers / Losers

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate Chart 1948-Present

Less Than Full Employment

This chart compares employment levels with the (inverted) unemployment rate.

Full Employment is when everyone who wants a job has one. It is generally considered to be around 3%. After the unemployment rate almost touched the magic full employment line in April 2023, it began moving away (i.e., higher unemployment).

Note: The Unemployment rate is inverted to track the employment rate. Neither is Seasonally Adjusted. For more information see Employment vs. Unemployment.

Note: Full employment is not considered to be at zero percent because even when employers are having difficulty finding employees, some people are still unemployed due to either:

1. Structural unemployment (mismatch between worker skills and job requirements, i.e., not enough training) or
2. Frictional unemployment. There will always be people who have quit or have lost a seasonal job and are in the process of getting a new job. Or simply because they quit their job, knowing it would be easy to find another (hopefully better) job.

Seasonally Adjusted U1 through U6 Unemployment Rates

Labor Force Participation Rate

Originally, the BLS reported the LFPR for January as 62.5%, but then it was adjusted to 62.1% based on “population adjustments”. The BLS says March was 61.9%.

Note: A rising LFPR means that a greater portion of the Non-Institutional population is in the Labor Force.

The Labor Force Participation Rate is the percentage of the Non-Institutional Population that makes up the Labor Force.

And the Employment – Population Ratio is the percentage of the Total Population that is Employed.  We created a chart to help explain the difference. The Employment–Population Ratio is the percentage of the largest circle to the smallest circle in this diagram. In contrast, the LFPR is the relationship of the 2nd largest circle to the 3rd largest circle (entire green circle).

Employment-Population Ratio

By Gender and Age

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Gender. Men make up a much larger portion of the workforce, i.e., 66.8% of men are employed, and only 56.0% of women are employed. But…

As you can see, 20 years ago, back in 2006, over 72% of men were working and 57.4% of women were working. In 2008, the Great Recession caused a massive decline in employment for both men and women. By December of 2009, only 66.4% of men were working and 55.4% of women. Over the next decade and a half, women workers rebounded to 56.4%, but men only rebounded to 67.4%.

Employment-Population Ratio by Race

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Race (including both Men and Women). As we can see, Hispanics and Asians have the highest percentage of their population employed.

Percent Unemployed 27 weeks or Longer

Roughly a quarter (25.4%) of those unemployed have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer.

Unemployment by Education

Read more on UnemploymentData.com.