Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: March 2018 Report Edition
Earlier this morning, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of March. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth staff highlighting important trends in the data.
1.
The employment rate for workers in their prime working years ticked down slightly in March to 79.2 percent. But the average for the first quarter of this year is the highest since the middle of 2008.
2.
Average hourly earnings growth rebounded in March to 2.7 percent. The overall trend, both in this series and other data, is a slow but steady acceleration in wage growth.
3.
The black unemployment rate, while hovering around historic lows, is still more than twice the rate for white workers.
4.
Retail employment continues to stagnate while health care and education keep on steadily adding jobs over the long-run.
5.
The share of newly employed workers coming from outside the labor force dropped in March to 72.6 percent, a 1.2 percentage point drop.
