
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 2, 1994                   TAG: 9404040182
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

PAYROLLS GROW; SPENDING'S SOLID

The number of Americans finding jobs in March reached a six-year high as improving weather spurred construction, the government said Friday. The 6.5 percent unemployment rate, however, was unchanged from February.

The nation's nonfarm payrolls swelled by 456,000 workers, the Labor Department reported. It was the biggest one-month increase since October 1987, when 556,000 new jobs were added.

``This points to very solid, strong economic growth,'' said economist Michael Niemira of Mitsubishi Bank in New York.

But the report also raised fears that the stock market - nervous about the possibility of higher interest rates - might lose more ground when trading resumes Monday.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed Americans' income rebounding in February. The 1.3 percent increase was the biggest jump since a 1.4 percent rise in April 1993.

Another report from the Commerce Department said consumer spending, which represents two-thirds of the nation's economic activity, rose for the 11th straight month. It climbed 1 percent, following a revised 0.1 percent advance in January.

The department also said frigid weather in the Midwest and Northeast helped cut construction spending 1.2 percent in February for the second straight month. The report said residential, nonresidential and government spending totaled $488.8 billion, down from $494.8 billion in January.

The Labor Department said 349,000 of the new jobs were part-time. Strong growth also was reported in temporary employment.

Construction showed a robust increase of 74,000 jobs, in part because of rebuilding related to the California earthquake. That followed two months of losses totaling 22,000 jobs. Manufacturing edged up by 12,000 jobs. It was the sixth consecutive monthly increase.

The number of retail jobs was up 74,000, with many of the new hires made by restaurants. There were small declines in mining and federal employment.

Niemira said the report ``clearly and very convincingly answers the question of how much of the first quarter weakness was weather related. We know it was considerable.''

There was no change in the unemployment rate despite a reduction of 196,000 in the civilian labor force, an apparent conflict. But the rate and the payroll data are taken from two different surveys that occasionally provide seemingly contradictory information.

The unemployment report also showed that Americans are worker longer hours. The average 42.2-hour work week for March was a post-World War II record. It was a one-hour increase over February. Average overtime was 4.8 hours, up from 4.6 hours a month earlier.

There was only a slight rise in average hourly wages, to $11.04 in March from $11.03 in February.

by CNB