Reply #17: MSNBC [View All]

[Quetzal]

U.S. payrolls rocket higher in March

WASHINGTON - U.S. employment rose last month at the fastest pace in nearly four years, easily outstripping expectations, as workers returned after a grocery store strike and construction hiring bounced back on better weather, a government report on Friday showed.

snip

Non-farm payrolls climbed 308,000 in March, the Labor Department said, the biggest gain since April 2000 and well above the 103,000 rise expected on Wall Street.

snip

The March rise in payrolls reflected the resolution of a labor dispute at grocery stores in southern California that had idled 72,000 workers. The department said the return of those workers helped fuel a 47,000 increase in retail employment last month, but it did not quantify the impact.

snip

The report showed job gains were widespread across industries.

While a long-hoped for rise in manufacturing employment did not appear, the department said factory payrolls were unchanged in March, finally breaking a string of 43 consecutive monthly declines.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4652107/