The US Department of Labor reported Friday that the US economy added 88,000 new jobs in March, the smallest gain in nine months and following a 268,000 jump in February. Nonetheless, the jobless rate fell to 7.6 percent, down 0.1 percent from the previous month, bringing unemployment levels to a four-year low.
In March, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 4.6 million. These individuals accounted for 39.6 percent of the unemployed.
Meanwhile, following an increase the previous month, employment in Canada declined by 55,000 in March, according to a report from Statistics Canada. The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 7.2 percent.
Despite the decline in March, employment was 1.2 percent or 203,000 above the level of 12 months earlier, with the increase mainly in full-time work. Over the same period, the total number of hours worked also rose by 1.2 percent.