The unemployment rate was 6 percent in March, down considerably from its high in April 2020, but 2.5 percentage points higher than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced, Friday.
Last month, employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 280,000, as pandemic-related restrictions eased in many parts of the country. Nearly two-thirds of the increase was in food service and drinking establishments (+176,000). Employment in leisure and hospitality is down 3.1 million or 18.5 percent since February 2020.
Manufacturing employment rose by 53,000 in March with 23,000 job gains in nondurable goods, including food. Transportation and warehousing added 48,000 jobs in March.
The report comes days after President Biden introduced the Americans Job Plan, which would invest $100 billion in workforce training programs, including services for dislocated workers, according to a Bloomberg Law report.
Whereas the Paycheck Protection Program was designed to keep connections between workers and their employers, Biden’s workforce training programs would prepare members of the workforce for entirely new opportunities, said Politico reporters during a webinar, Thursday.
“The $100 billion for job training would give workers the skills to find jobs in different sectors to meet demand, so that would offer a way to give aid to the workers versus relying on employers to keep them on the payroll,” said Politico labor reporter Eleanor Mueller.
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