• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • U.S. Economy Whittles Down Unemployment Rate in March

    April 4, 2011 Timothy Prickett Morgan

    There was good news from the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday, even if it wasn’t great news. According to the statistics compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for March, the American economy added 216,000 jobs in March, outpacing the population growth in the country and shaving the unemployment rate by one-tenth of a point to 8.8 percent.

    That is a two-year low for the unemployment rate, but nowhere near the 4.5 percent structural unemployment rate that economists agree is as close to full employment that the modern U.S. economy can push down to. By the way, that was the official unemployment rate before we entered the Great Recession in December 2007. The number of unemployed people in March was 13.5 million, and that does not count the people who have stopped looking for work and who are no longer counted as members of the potential and current job pool.

    In its monthly jobs report, which you can read here, the BLS says that private sector companies added 230,000 jobs in March, which is above the 200,000 minimum that is necessary to keep pace with population growth in the country. Local and state governments as well as Uncle Sam continue to shed workers as they face budget crunches. One more thing: the BLS revised its February figures and now believes that the U.S. economy added a few thousand more jobs in the prior month, too.

    By industry, which is how the BLS thinks about the economy, healthcare companies added 37,000 jobs last month; this industry added 283,000 jobs in the prior 12 months. Companies engaged in the professional and business services sector added 78,000 jobs in March, and leisure and hospitality firms added 37,000 jobs. The manufacturing sector even did alright, adding 17,000 jobs, and mining companies boosted their payrolls by 14,000.

    The BLS doesn’t track jobs by title, so we really can’t get a sense of how the IT sector is doing. But you can look at portions of the industry report and see how IT vendors are doing.

    Among manufacturers, those making computer and electronic products added 1,900 net new jobs in March, with a pool that is above 1.12 million workers. Within that group, 1,000 jobs were added by computer and peripheral equipment manufacturers and 300 jobs added by communications equipment makers. Semiconductor and electronic component makers added 900 jobs. Those making electronic instruments shed 900 jobs.

    The information sector, which includes all types of publishing (movies, TV, music, online, and paper) as well as telecom and data processing services, was essentially flat at 2.68 million workers. Telecom companies cut 6,100 jobs, to just under 870,000 workers, while data processing and hosting companies added 1,500 workers, to just under 240,000 people.

    The professional and business services sector, which has 16.9 million employees, continued to be a bright spot in the jobs market. Within this sector, those engaged in computer systems design and related services added 1,700 jobs, according to the BLS. There are 1.47 million people in the country who do this work. Management and technical consulting services companies employ just over 1 million workers, and added 200 last month.

    RELATED STORIES

    US Adds Jobs in February, and at IT Companies, Too

    There’s More IT Jobs, But Stingy Salaries Cause Unrest

    Negotiate Wisely: It’s Your Job and Your Salary

    Get Database Skills for Career ROI

    Job Site Data Shows IT Jobs Down Across the Board

    A Mixed Bag for IT Jobs in September

    CIOs Are a Little More Optimistic About IT Hiring–But Not Much

    Increase in IT Jobs Led by Contract Worker Demands

    IT Salaries Stop Falling, Hiring Picking Up, Says Janco

    Another Indicator Says the IT Job Market Is Improving

    YiPs Find Skills and Jobs on Different Roads

    IT Shops Worried About Brain Drain, Says CareerBuilder

    Pay Increase? You’re Getting a Pay Increase?

    U.S. Economy Loses Another 85,000 Jobs in December

    Companies Look to Add Jobs in 2010, Inside IT and Out

    U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops a Bit, IT Does OK

    First Quarter Sees Largest Tech Job Losses Since 2002

    Have IT Vendors Been Hit Harder Than IT Departments?

    As I See It: A Novel Idea

    IT Jobs 2009: The Dot-Com Bubble Burst Was ‘A Cake Walk’



                         Post this story to del.icio.us
                   Post this story to Digg
        Post this story to Slashdot

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags:

    Sponsored by
    Maxava

    Migrate IBM i with Confidence

    Tired of costly and risky migrations? Maxava Migrate Live minimizes disruption with seamless transitions. Upgrading to Power10 or cloud hosted system, Maxava has you covered!

    Learn More

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Security of SecurID In Question Following Hack of RSA Infor Debuts Standardized GUI Based on MS SharePoint

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Volume 20, Number 12 -- April 4, 2011
THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:

Help/Systems
CCSS
ManageEngine
Linoma Software
WorksRight Software

Table of Contents

  • Rocket Software Bulks Up i Biz with Aldon Acquisition
  • AS/400 i Mystery Solved–Again?
  • Oracle to Take a Run at Lawson Software?
  • Mad Dog 21/21: Boiling the Ocean
  • IBM’s Brill Says Email is Overrated
  • U.S. Economy Whittles Down Unemployment Rate in March
  • Gartner Pads 2011 Spending Forecast with Media Tablets
  • IBM Markets Power Systems-i Through an Email Blast
  • Lawson Cancels Chat with Wall Street on Fiscal Q3 Numbers
  • IBM i Manifest Americas Faces New Dilemma

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • Big Blue Raises IBM i License Transfer Fees, Other Prices
  • Keep The IBM i Youth Movement Going With More Training, Better Tools
  • Remain Begins Migrating DevOps Tools To VS Code
  • IBM Readies LTO-10 Tape Drives And Libraries
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 23
  • SEU’s Fate, An IBM i V8, And The Odds Of A Power13
  • Tandberg Bankruptcy Leaves A Hole In IBM Power Storage
  • RPG Code Generation And The Agentic Future Of IBM i
  • A Bunch Of IBM i-Power Systems Things To Be Aware Of
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Numbers 21 And 22

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle