U.S. employment rebounded in March while the unemployment rate ticked down. However, the war in Iran could have a negative impact on upcoming jobs reports. According to a survey of businesses by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. employers added 178,000 workers to payrolls in March 2026, the strongest monthly jobs report in over a year. March job additions were a reversal from the February loss of 133,000 jobs which was revised down by 41,000 jobs, while January job additions were revised up by 34,000 jobs to a gain of 160,000 jobs. In addition, the March jobs report vastly exceeded economists’ expectations of a gain of roughly 60,000 to 70,000 jobs. Seven of the 11 major industries recorded job gains in March. The largest job additions were in the Education/Health Services sector, which added 91,000 jobs. The bulk of those job gains were in Health Care (+76,400 jobs), which followed steep job losses of more than 32,000 in February, primarily due to large healthcare workers’ strikes in Hawaii and California. Notable job gains were also seen in Leisure/Hospitality Services (+44,000 jobs), Trade/Transportation/Utilities (+33,000 jobs), Construction (+26,000 jobs) and Manufacturing (+15,000 jobs). In contrast, job losses were seen in Financial Activities (-15,000 jobs), Other Services (-9,000 jobs), Government (-8,000 jobs) and Information (-3,000 jobs). Meanwhile, the unemployment rate (U3 or headline unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted, and is a survey of households) registered at 4.3% in March. That was down from the February rate of 4.4%, though that was largely due to people dropping out of the workforce.
This post is part of a series analyzing employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For more on this data, read previous posts on Job Growth.
