Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% from the prior month and were up 3.1% from a year earlier, both above estimates -- and potentially due to the removal of low-wage workers from the ranks of the employed.
Payrolls slump in these two industries nearly wipe out two years of growth
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the unemployment rate would have been almost 1 percentage point higher if workers who were recorded as employed but absent from work due to “other reasons,” were classified as unemployed on temporary layoff. The BLS said that this discrepancy might result from respondents misunderstanding a survey question.
”The jobs report was extremely weak, sending an ominous signal of what is to come,” said Michelle Meyer, head of U.S. economics at Bank of America Corp. “Not only were the numbers terrible but the BLS noted that they could have been worse.”
In addition, the figures may be less reliable than usual because response rates were significantly below typical levels from both households and businesses.
The Labor Department said in a special note that “It is important to keep in mind that the March survey reference periods for both surveys predated many coronavirus-related business and school closures in the second half of the month.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.