When is the March Employment report going to be released?

A little over a year ago, in March 2023, the national unemployment rate stood at 3.5 percent. Thirteen months later, in February, the figure had increased to 3.9 percent. Tomorrow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the March Employment Report at 8:30 AM ET.

Currently, the unemployment rate is at its highest since January 2022. One of the goals of the Federal Reserve in hiking interest rates was to soften the labor market (i.e., increase unemployment) because the pressure on wage growth was happening on prices. If further increases in unemployment were recorded in March, it could be a sign that the Fed’s goal is being accomplished.

Permanent job losers, which the BLS describes as those “whose employment ended involuntarily,” have been climbing steadily for months. Last month, the figure stood at 1.73 million workers, representing just under a quarter of all unemployed workers. This will be a critical marker to review in March’s report to better understand the state of unemployed workers and how easy their reentry into the workforce is under the current economic conditions informed by the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.

What are nonfarm payroll jobs?

If you have gone through the jobs report, you might have encountered the term ‘nonfarm payroll.’ However, you may not be fully aware of what it means. The jobs report covers most employment types, but there are some exceptions.

Nonfarm payroll measures the total number of workers excluding those employed in farming, military, private households, non-profit employees, and proprietors. Due to the unique characteristics of these jobs, they are not considered an accurate representation of the job market as a whole.

The figures in the jobs report primarily relate to those employed in private and government entities. Almost 80 percent of the US workforce is part of the nonfarm payroll, which means that the vast majority of workers are included in the report’s figures.