U.S. employers picked up their pace of hiring in March, a sign that suggests a winter slowdown was only temporary.
Non-farm payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 192,000 in March, the U.S. Labor Department said. January and February payrolls were revised up by a combined 37,000 jobs.
Every industry except manufacturing added to payrolls, with job gains strongest in the professional ranks and bars and restaurants sectors, the agency reported.
The upswing in hiring over the past two months, meanwhile, drew more people back into the labor force, leaving the national unemployment rate unchanged at 6.7 percent.
The size of the labor force surged by 503,000 in March, and the participation rate climbed to 63.2 percent from 63 percent, marking the highest level since last September.
“American companies are hiring again at a decent rate following a brutal winter,” Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, told MarketWatch.com.
