Gallup Good Jobs Rate Down Slightly

The Gallup Good Jobs (GGJ) rate was 44.4 percent in March. This was down slightly from the February rate (44.6 percent) but higher than the rate in any March since Gallup began measuring it in 2010. The current rate is 0.3 percentage points higher than in March 2015, suggesting an underlying increase in full-time work beyond seasonal changes in employment. The percentage of U.S. adults in March who participated in the workforce was 67.0 percent. This was down slightly from the rate in February (67.2 percent) but still higher than the 66.9 percent average workforce participation rate since June 2013.

Gallup's unadjusted U.S. unemployment rate was 6.0 percent in March, down slightly from February's 6.2 percent. It is the lowest rate in any March since Gallup began tracking the measure in 2010, including last year's 6.4 percent. March underemployment was 14.5 percent, down slightly from February (14.7 percent) but in line with the rates since April 2015. The current underemployment rate of 14.5 percent is the lowest Gallup has measured in any March over the past seven years.