US job growth surged in March as the country added 303,000 nonfarm jobs, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced. The increase was far above the average monthly gain of 231,000 over the last 12 months. On the flip side, employment in temporary help services shrunk by 1,300 jobs in March, bringing temp employment to approximately 2.76 million.

“The robust growth in overall jobs as well as expansion in labor force participation is great news for the economy,” said Timothy Landhuis, VP of research at SIA. “Nevertheless, many staffing firms are still waiting to see an uptick in their business, particularly as client verticals such as manufacturing and transportation continue to have weak demand for industrial staffing.”

The temp penetration rate, which measures temp jobs as a percent of total employment, edged down to 1.74% in March from 1.75% in February.

Though the number of temp jobs slipped as reported this month, the BLS revised upward the number of temporary workers in January and February, an analysis by SIA pointed out. That put the number of temporary help services workers 12,200 higher in February than previously estimated.

Meanwhile, the US unemployment rate improved to 3.8% in March from 3.9% in February. The college-level unemployment rate also declined to 2.1% in March from 2.2% in February.

SIA goes into more detail on today’s employment numbers in its April 2024 Jobs Report.

Overall, nonfarm employment in the US totaled more than 158.1 million jobs in March, up from 157.8 million in the previous month. Notable gains happened in healthcare, government, construction, and leisure and hospitality.

Healthcare employment added 72,000 jobs in March. That compares to the average monthly gain of 60,000 healthcare jobs in the past 12 months.

The number of government jobs increased by 71,000 month over month, and construction added 39,000 jobs. The increase in construction jobs was approximately double its average month gain of 19,000 over the past 12 months.

Leisure and hospitality added 49,000 jobs, and the industry returned to its prepandemic February 2020 level, according to the BLS.

Average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 12 cents in March to $34.69. For private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings rose by seven cents to $29.79.

“We’re seeing continued strength in the labor market, still rebalancing from post-pandemic highs as employers take a more measured approach to hiring — prioritizing permanent hires for in-demand roles,” Becky Frankiewicz, president ManpowerGroup North America and chief commercial officer, said in a press release. “Workers are sitting tight as quit rates are holding steady.”