Washington – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Julie McClain Downey issued the following statement in the March 2023 Employment Situation Report:
The US economy added 236,000 jobs in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, and the unemployment rate fell to a historic low of 3.5%. With 12.6 million jobs added since President Biden took office, 345,000 jobs added on average over the past three months, and more Americans entering the workforce and creating opportunities, this report indicates that the economy continues to provide steady and stable job growth that benefits workers and their families. .
“Job growth has been relatively widespread, with significant gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, government, and health care — with welcome and continued progress in home health care settings, hospitals, nursing facilities and residential care that have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
This recovery continues to be marked by signs of increasing fairness in our nation’s economic systems. In March, the unemployment rate for black workers fell to a record low of 5.0 percent, and to a record low of 4.2 percent for black women.
“As the President’s Invest in America agenda stimulates job growth and reduces costs in communities across the country, we at the Department of Labor continue to focus on ensuring these opportunities are available to all. Our Good Jobs Initiative works across government and the economy to improve job quality and increase equitable access to jobs good through the historical investments of this administration.