Market Insights

The Employment Situation for March 2022

UPDATED ON
March 7, 2022
Brian Freeman
Brian Freeman
— Written By
Print Friendly and PDF

Editor's Note: This report is based on survey data from February 2022 that was published in March 2022. This is the most recent data available. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

The U.S. economy continues to recover its strength in 2022, adding 678k new jobs last month. These latest figures bring the unemployment rate to 3.8%, marking the lowest rate since the pandemic began.

The 678k new jobs represents an almost 50% increase over the new job additions that were initially reported in the previous month. Although the unemployment rate is still 0.3% below its pre-pandemic level (and while more than half a million jobs have yet to return), economists argue that the economy has essentially recovered at this point.

What’s more, given that the pandemic spurred significant business restructuring and encouraged more retirees to leave the workforce earlier than planned, many of those jobs and workers will not return. Additionally, with private sector employment now within 1% of pre-pandemic levels, it would be fair to characterize the economic recovery as largely complete. Although another COVID-19 variant could emerge and derail some of the progress, this employment milestone is significant nonetheless and certainly deserves to be celebrated.  

A full economic recovery, however, does not mean that COVID-19’s impacts are a thing of the past; still, indicators continue to move in the right direction. For example, nearly 13% of all employees worked remotely at some point over the past month–a figure that is down 2.5% from the month prior. Similarly, the number of Americans who reported an inability to work because of business lost to COVID-19 was down 30% from the month before.

For the 678k new jobs added, leisure and hospitality led the way with almost 180k. Professional and business services, followed by healthcare and construction, rounded out the top four industries with the largest job gains during the period, with 95k, 64k, and 60k new jobs reported, respectively.

The only industries that did not experience significant job growth last month were the information and government sectors.

Mployer Advisor’s Take:  

New COVID-19 cases in the U.S. fell by about 90% in February–a fact that certainly contributed to the good news contained in the latest economic report. But the destabilization and invasion of Ukraine–one of the Eurasian continent’s largest grain suppliers–will continue to be negatively felt around the globe in the coming days and months ahead. Of course, time will only tell the extent to which international uncertainty may impact economic news at home.  

Eager for more exclusive content? Check out the Mployer Advisor blog, or review last month’s employment numbers here.

Want more insights on how your employee benefitscompare to companies in your region, industry, and similaremployer size?
Download Your Custom Benefits Report Now

Next Up

401ks from the Employee Perspective - Savings & Contribution Benchmarking
Too often, misconceptions can lead employees to put off or minimize retirement savings in the near term, without realizing the impact those delays and that underinvestment will have in the long run, which can have negative consequences for employees later in their careers as they try to make up lost ground. 
The Market Employment Summary for March 2024
Each month, Mployer Advisor breaks down the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent State Employment and Unemployment Summary to highlight some employment trends across various markets. This is an overview of March’s report. 
How Does Your 401k Offering Stack Up To Other Employers?
Given their prominent position that 401ks hold in the context of modern workforce management, a closer look at some of the surrounding issues can help ensure that your organization’s offerings remain viable relative to the other employers with which you are competing for talent.