U.S. March nonfarm payroll employment down 86,000; unemployment 4.3 pct

WASHINGTON (AFX) - Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 86,000 in March from February, the Labor Department said.    This is the largest decline in nonfarm payrolls since November 1991.    The unemployment rate was 4.3 pct in March, up from 4.2 pct in February. This is the highest unemployment rate since July 1999.    The decline in nonfarm payrolls was unexpected. The rise in the unemployment rate was, however, in line with forecasts. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for nonfarm payrolls to rise by 74,000 and for the unemployment rate to rise to 4.3 pct in March.    In February, nonfarm payrolls rose a revised 140,000, higher than the initial estimate of a rise of 135,000.    Hourly earnings rose 0.4 pct in March from February. The consensus forecast was for a 0.3 rise in hourly earnings. In February, hourly earnings rose a revised 0.6 pct, stronger than the previous estimate of a 0.5 pct rise.    Year-on-year, hourly earnings were up 4.3 pct. This is up from 4.1 pct in February, but just below the peak rise of 4.4 pct in April 1998.    Payroll growth was weaker than expected in March because all categories of employment fell except for services and construction, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.	    "In summary, our March survey results provide further indication of weakness in the labor market," said Katharine Abraham, Commissioner of the Bureau.    Abraham added that "Employment in manufacturing and help supply services declined sharply. Still, other industries continued to register job gains, including components of finance, mining, and construction and most industries within services."   Payrolls in the goods-producing sector fell by 67,000.    Manufacturing jobs fell by 81,000 in March, after falling a revised 97,000 in February, weaker than the initial estimate that job growth in the sector fell 94,000.    Construction jobs rose by 12,000 in March.    The services-producing sector saw payrolls fall by 19,000 in March.    Retail jobs dropped 46,000 in the month. Overall services jobs rose 11,000 in March. Government jobs declined by 4,000.    In a separate household survey, the Labor Department said the number of unemployed persons rose by 152,000 to 6.09 mln in March.    The civilian labor force rose by 117,000 to 141.9 mln, while total employment fell 35,000 to 135.8 mln.    The pool of available labor, a measure the Federal Reserve uses to assess the degree of tightness in the labor market, fell by 129,000 to 10.3 mln.    The index of aggregate hours worked rose 0.1 pct in March to 151.4 hours. The factory workweek was unchanged at 40.7 hours.    Overtime in the manufacturing sector declined by six minutes to 3.8 hours.    The average workweek rose by six minutes to 34.3 hours.    Average weekly earnings increased by 0.7 pct to 486.03 usd, and were up 3.7 pct year-on-year.

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