March Payrolls Expand by 162,000 Jobs, Most Since 2007, in Likely Sign of Recovery

Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 162,000 jobs in March, the most for any month since early 2007 prior to the start of the recession that year, the Labor Department reported April 2, spurring hopes that a jobs recovery finally has begun.

In addition, employment figures were revised upward for the first two months of this year by a total of 62,000 jobs, resulting in a small gain of 14,000 jobs in January and an equal loss of 14,000 jobs in February, according to seasonally adjusted Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.

Meanwhile, the nation’s unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent in March ...