Unemployment rate remains at 6.7% in March, average year over year job growth slows to 183k monthly, weekly hours recover

The BLS reports here:

"Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 192,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment grew in professional and business services, in health care, and in mining and logging. ... Job growth averaged 183,000 per month over the prior 12 months. ... The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2 hour in March to 34.5 hours, offsetting a net decline over the prior 3 months."

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While total nonfarm private payrolls have finally beaten the 1/1/08 peak (by just 96,000 jobs), rising to 116.07 million, neither seasonally-adjusted nor not-seasonally-adjusted total nonfarm employment has yet to surpass the pre-recession peak. Strapped municipalities and states find it difficult to add to government payrolls with reduced revenues due to on-going unemployment and reduced real estate values.

In 2013 job growth's pace averaged 194,000 monthly, which means at the current year over year pace of 183,000 monthly job growth has slowed 5.7% in 2014 to date.

Rising length of the work week arrests a worrisome downtrend for the time being.