Unemployment Falls to 8.8 Percent, Employers Add 216K Jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data showing that unemployment dropped again to 8.8 percent in March, with employers adding 216,000 new jobs. The manufacturing sector showed especially strong growth, increasing at its fastest pace in seven years.

The upward trend follows the addition of 192,000 jobs in February. The two-month stretch is the strongest for hiring in the private sector since the start of the recession, and the unemployment rate is a two-year low.

Economists say the March numbers also reflect the first data in 2011 not altered by winter weather.

The overall economic uptick was aided by an increase in auto sales to the highest level in the past 12 months, boosting hiring in the car industry to meet rising demand.

The rise in fuel prices, spurred by demand and the political turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East, could be a drain on other spending if the upward trend continues.

In the housing market, one of the drivers of the recession, there was less good news to report. Data in recent months has shown a weak housing market and falling home prices.

PBS NewsHour’s Paul Solman will have more on the newly released data, including his monthly “U-7” index, on the Rundown.