Government hiring spree propping up the US job market

foxbusiness.com:

Employbridge’s Joanie Bily explains what the March jobs report says about the state of the U.S. economy on 'Making Money.'

U.S. job growth has repeatedly blown past expectations since the start of the new year, but there has been a consistent factor underpinning those surprisingly strong figures: the government.

The most recent data from the Labor Department shows that employers added 303,000 jobs in March, easily topping the 200,000 gain forecast by LSEG economists. The unemployment rate inched lower to 3.8%, from 3.9% in February.

But digging deeper into the report reveals that the American government has been a major contributor of jobs since the beginning of the year – something that economists say is belying a strong labor market.

«It’s a little bit disconcerting when you see the fact that job growth is in sectors that are not necessarily your productive sectors,» Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, told FOX Business.

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A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Nov. 21, 2023.  (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Public sector jobs at the federal, state and local level rose by 194,000 during the first three months of 2024. That accounts for about one-quarter of all jobs created in January, February and March. By comparison, during that same time period in 2019 before the pandemic began, government hiring represented just 11% of all jobs created. 

«You never want to see the government be the major engine for hiring,» Roach added. «They are quick to furlough, so it can kind of go both ways. You may see this massive rebound in hiring, but once