Good news for retailers in March jobs report

March was a solid month for U.S. job makers, with retailers leading the way.



The retail industry — excluding autos, gasoline and food services — added a solid 40,000 jobs in March, the National Retail Federation reported on Friday. The job market overall saw growth of 215,000 jobs in the month of March.



Retail has added an average of 52,000 jobs per month over the last three months.



“The retail sector remains a consistent contributor in terms of job growth, and the increase in average hourly earnings and the participation rate underscores healthy labor market conditions and the economy,” NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “Wage growth has been a missing puzzle piece for some time and the data on March’s average hourly earnings is encouraging, hopefully pointing to an acceleration in the near future.”