1. A p r i l 4 , 2 0 1 4
$24.30
AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS
(ALL WORKERS)
2.1% ABOVE LAST YEAR
• Job growth remained solid for a second straight month, after winter weather cooled
U.S. labor market performance in December and January.
• All of the employment gains in March came from the private sector, bringing non-
government payrolls back above the pre-recession level for the first time.
• Employers continue to show some confidence, suggesting the U.S. economy and
labor market could be poised for faster growth in the coming months.
Hiring in the U.S. continued on a steady pace in March, as the economy generated a respectable 192,000 jobs. Upward revisions to the
prior two months’ employment gains totaled 37,000, bringing average monthly job creation to nearly 178,000 for the first three months of
2014. Private sector employment surpassed 116 million, topping the pre-recession peak employment level reached in January 2008.
(Continued)
WORKERS IN MARCH
U.S. EMPLOYERS HIRED
A TOTAL OF
192,000
PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT BOUNCES BACK
6.7%
THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
REMAINED UNCHANGED AT
7.5% LAST MARCH

2. Talent Market Monthly: April 4, 2014
March’s employment gains were broad-based. Hiring
was strong in the professional and business services
sector (+57,000), as well as in consumer-facing sectors
including retail trade (+21,300) and accommodation/
food services (+33,100). The construction industry saw a
third straight month of increased hiring (+19,000), and
healthcare employment also rose (+27,000).
The unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 6.7% in
March. More than a half million workers entered the
labor force, edging the labor force participation rate up
by 0.2 percentage points. The number of long-term
unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) fell
over the month, and is down by more than 830,000 over
the prior year.
This month’s continued solid employment figures
suggest that the U.S. labor market suffered fewer
negative effects from bad winter weather than
previously supposed, and is progressing steadily—but
still very slowly—in the right direction.
EMPLOYMENT OVERVIEW
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR
Total non-farm employment growth 237K 274K 84K 144K 197K 192K
Private sector employment growth 247K 272K 86K 166K 188K 192K
Unemployment rate 7.2% 7.0% 6.7% 6.6% 6.7% 6.7%
An Equal OpportunityEmployer ©2014 Kelly Services, Inc. W1093e. Kelly Services, Inc. makes no representationor warranty with respect to the materialcontained in this report.
LABOR MARKET DASHBOARD
U.S. MONTHLY EMPLOYMENT CHANGE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
0
100
200
300
400
UnemploymentRate(%)
Employment(000s)
Total non-farm employment growth Unemployment rate
Although the unemployment rate and payroll employment gains are the most
heavily-watched monthly labor market indicators in the U.S., a handful of other
statistics have now risen in importance, as the Federal Reserve Board recently
announced it is broadening its strategy for guiding financial markets. Under its
previous plan, the Fed said its decision on raising the benchmark interest rate
rested on the U.S. unemployment rate falling to 6.5 percent. Now, the Fed will
utilize what Chair Janet Yellen is calling a “dashboard” of labor market data to
inform policy decisions.
This dashboard of metrics includes the monthly job gain figure, the overall
unemployment rate, and the labor force participation rate. It also includes a
measure of long-term unemployment, and a broader view of joblessness, the U-6
unemployment rate (which also counts part-time workers who would prefer a full-
time job, and those who aren’t in the labor force but say they want and are
available to work). The Fed will also consider turnover rates—quits, layoffs, hires,
and openings—which provide additional insight into job flows. Wages and
spending will also factor into the Fed’s decisions on the health of the economy.
Currently, most of these indicators show a labor market that is improving, but has
yet to fully recover from the recession: only two figures (monthly payroll gains and
the layoff rate) have returned to their pre-recession averages.
Sources: Bloomberg.com;CSMonitor.com