Most Details in Jobs Report Are Positive

The unemployment rate was unchanged in March. But it was the best possible variety of unchanged.

Although the jobless rate didn’t budge from its 6.7 percent February level, the details behind that number are almost entirely positive.
The number of people reporting that they were employed soared by 476,000, which normally would be enough to send the jobless rate
falling. The reason it didn’t is that the labor force rose by a whopping 503,000. It is part of a trend that has been underway all
year, with the labor force rising 523,000 in January and 264,000 in February.

In other words, half a million people who had not been looking for work decided they indeed wanted a job, and simultaneously about that many people found a job. The result was a standstill in the overall jobless rate.

A couple of the other details from the survey of households also point in a positive direction. The number of long-term unemployed â€" those without a job for more than 27 weeks â€" fell by 110,000. And the ratio of the population reporting they had a job ticked up to 58.9 percent from 58.8 percent.

The trend toward a rising labor force in 2014  suggests that America is finally getting back to work. It follows a long, sharp contraction
in the number of people with a job or looking for one. But it also could stand in the way of further progress toward lower unemployment. That’s a trade most people would take.