After reporting flat numbers for February, the U.S. Labor Department has announced that things looked much more robust in March with the addition of 178,000 new jobs, representing the strongest gain since the last quarter of 2024.
The new figures, remarked Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a statement, “smashed expectations,” pointing to “strong growth in construction jobs, particularly factory construction.”
Leading the job gains was, once again, the country’s health care industry, which saw a jump of 76,000 new jobs last month. Employment in the ambulatory health care services sector recorded a 54,000-job gain. Notes the report: “Over the past 12 months, health care has added an average of 29,000 jobs per month.”
Those health care figures were additionally bolstered, notes the publication Becker’s Hospital Review, by a “35,000 increase in physician offices as workers returned from a strike.”
These newest figures, asserts the Wall Street Journal, are only the latest proof that “health care jobs, including nursing, are the most reliable tickets to middle-class prosperity.”
In fact, continued the paper, the health care field has “provided some of the most consistent job growth since the 1980s.”
The construction industry, meanwhile, posted a healthy 26,000 job gain last month, adding to a 57,000 job gain for the entire year.
Notes a statement from the Associated Builders and Contractors: “Nonresidential construction employment increased by 12,200 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential building added the most jobs, increasing by 4,500 positions.”
The nonresidential specialty trade and heavy and civil engineering categories weren’t far behind, reporting March gains of 3,900 and 3,800 jobs respectively last month.
April 7, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
