WASHINGTON (AP) - Employers, in a springtime hiring burst, boosted payrolls by a sizable 211,000 in March and pushed the nation's unemployment rate down to 4.7 percent. The latest snapshot, released by the Labor Department on Friday, suggested that an accelerating economic expansion is putting companies in the hiring mood, brightening prospects for job seekers.
Hiring gains were fairly widespread. Construction, financial activities, education and health care and government were among the sectors posting payroll gains. That help to blunt job losses in manufacturing and in the transportation industries.
The unemployment rate, which dropped from February's 4.8 percent, ended up matching January's jobless rate, which was the lowest in 4 1/2 years.
Employment was stronger in March than economists were expecting. Before the release of the report, they were forecasting a gain of 190,000 jobs and they said they believed the overall civilian jobless rate would hold steady.
Good news on the economy, however, hasn't been helping President Bush in the eyes of the public. Bush's job-approval rating of 36 percent is at its lowest level in an AP-Ipsos poll
On the jobs front, payroll gains in January and February turned out to be slightly less than previously reported but still suggest decent job growth. Employers added 154,000 jobs in January, versus the 170,000 estimated a month ago. In February, payrolls grew by 225,000, rather than the 243,000 previously reported.
Employees' average hourly earnings, meanwhile, were $16.49 in March, a modest 0.2 percent increase from February. Economists were forecasting a 0.3 percent increase.
With the economy growing smartly and the job market flowering, the Federal Reserve and other economists are keeping a close eye on wage growth.
Wage improvement is good for workers, but a rapid, sustained acceleration triggers inflation concerns at the Federal Reserve and among economists.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues boosted interest rates on March 28 to a five-year high and hinted that additional increases were possible to keep inflation at bay.
An improving job market and stepped-up production "in combination with the elevated prices of energy and other commodities have the potential to add to inflation pressures," Fed policymakers said at the March meeting.
Economists believe rates will go up again on May 10.
The report also showed the average time that the 7 million unemployed spent searching for work in March was 16.9 weeks, down from 17.6 weeks in February.
The employment figures for March come against the backdrop of a rebounding economy. Analysts believe the economy emerged from an end- of-year funk and grew at an annual rate of 4.5 percent or higher in the just ended January-to-March quarter. The economy is expected to moderate in the current April-to-June quarter but still turn in a good performance.
