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Unemployment on the Rise

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate for the month of March rose from 4.8 to 5.1%. Job growth continued an upward trend in health care, food services, and mining while employment declined in construction, employment services, as well as manufacturing. According to BLS, the employment trend within the health care industry saw, over the month, a gain of 23,000 jobs. Specifically, the industry saw growth within hospitals, adding 14,000 jobs. Over the past 12 months, the health care industry added 363,000 jobs. Conversely, the number of manufacturing jobs continued to decline in March with a loss of 48,000 jobs, bringing losses over the past 12 months to 310,000. Employment in motor vehicles and parts was down by 24,000 over the month, largely reflecting the impact of a strike in auto parts manufacturing. The strike resulted in a parts shortage that led to plant shutdowns elsewhere in the auto industry. During the 12 months ending in February, the motor vehicle and parts industry lost an average of 6,000 jobs per month. Furthermore, professional and business services employment edged down in March recording a loss of 35,000 jobs. The number of jobs in the employment services component also declined (-42,000) over the month; about half of the decline occurred in the temporary help services industry.