New Jobs Report Surpasses Expectations But There Are Some Big Problems With WHERE The Gains Came From

In March, the U.S. job market experienced significant growth, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reporting an impressive 303,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added, surpassing economists’ expectations of 200,000.

The unemployment rate also saw a slight decrease, dropping from 3.9% to 3.8%.

However, a closer examination of the data reveals that the majority of these gains can be attributed to two key factors: a record-breaking increase in government positions and a rise in the employment of foreign-born workers.

Government employment reached an all-time high in March, with 71,000 jobs added, bringing the total number of government employees to 23,270,000. This figure surpasses the previous record set in May 2010 during the temporary hiring surge for census collection.

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The consistent growth in government jobs over the past five months has coincided with a steady accumulation of government debt under the Biden administration, which now stands at over $34.6 trillion as of Wednesday, according to the Treasury Department.

Alongside the government sector, foreign-born workers also played a substantial role in the March job gains.

The BLS data shows that the number of employed foreign-born workers increased by 112,000, rising from 31,002,000 in February to 31,114,000 in March.

Over the past year, the employment level for foreign-born workers has grown by 1,266,000, while the number of native-born Americans has decreased by 651,000. The unemployment rate for foreign-born workers stands at 3.6%, lower than the 4.0% rate for native-born workers.

It is important to note that the BLS does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants in its survey, acknowledging that the data likely includes illegal immigrants working in the U.S.

This is particularly relevant given the surge in illegal immigration under President Joe Biden, with Border Patrol recording approximately two million migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2023 alone, a significant increase from the 1.7 million encounters in fiscal year 2021.

Other sectors that contributed to the March job gains include health care, which added 81,000 jobs, and the leisure and hospitality sector, which saw an increase of 49,000 jobs.

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In contrast, both the manufacturing and information sectors remained stagnant, showing no significant change in employment levels.