According to the Labor Department, the unemployment figure fell to six million, barely above its pre-pandemic level of 5.7 million.
The United States saw the creation of 431,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, bringing the labor market closer to its level before the COVID-19 pandemic, the government reported on Friday .
The worst thing is that more than 10 million jobs have been available for a year and companies continue to lack personnel, largely due to the amount of stimulus that the federal government has provided since the beginning of the pandemic.
What used to be a benefit has now become a serious problem for millions of companies across the country that have had to raise wages and increase incentives to hire staff. Those costs then lead to higher prices for consumer products.
While job growth was slightly below analysts' forecasts, the unemployment rate fell more than expected and is now close to the 3.5% level seen in February 2020, before the mass layoffs that occurred. when COVID-19 broke out across the country.
According to the Labor Department, the total number of unemployed fell to six million, barely above its pre-pandemic level of 5.7 million, while the number of people whose employment was involuntarily terminated or who completed temporary work was 1.4 million, also close to its February 2020 level.
However, the number of employed people is still 1.6 million below its pre-pandemic level.
In March, employment grew particularly in the leisure and hospitality sector, including bars and restaurants, where the most layoffs took place during the pandemic, adding 112,000 jobs.
In professional and commercial services, 102,000 jobs were created, in retail trade 49,000 and in manufacturing 38,000.
The Labor Department also revised upward the number of job creations in January and February. Adding both months, there were 95,000 more jobs than initially reported.
