document: Surge in jobs fuels economic optimism Private sector hiring finally shows some life US employers added jobs for the sixth straight month and the national unemployment rate fell to a two-year low in March , providing more evidence of an advancing economic recovery , the US Labor Department reported yesterday . The solid job gains and slight reduction in the unemployment rate surprised some economists who have worried that the unfolding disaster in Japan and unrest in the oil-producing Middle East could slow the recovery . `` Gas and food costs are squeezing people 's spending power , and , no question , that 's hurting , '' said IHS Global Insight 's chief US economist , Nigel Gault . `` But the employment data suggest that the labor market actually had some good momentum and we 're in a better place to withstand those shocks than we thought . '' The national unemployment rate slipped to 8.8 percent last month , from 8.9 percent in February , and is now at the lowest level since March 2008 . The economy added 216,000 jobs last month , its sixth straight month of gains . Private employers drove the growth , accounting for more than 200,000 of the new jobs -- the biggest gain in private sector employment since 2006 . Government employment fell by 14,000 jobs . Industries vital to the Massachusetts economy , such as health care and technology services , posted strong national job gains last month . Professional and business services , which includes a variety of technology , scientific , and consulting firms , added 78,000 jobs nationally . The health care industry added 37,000 jobs in March . Leisure and hospitality , which includes hotels and restaurants , also gained 37,000 jobs . Denis McSweeney , regional commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Boston , said the job growth in these sectors bodes well for Massachusetts and Boston . In the Boston metropolitan area , for example , education and health services , the region 's biggest employment sector , grew 23 percent in 2010 , he said . Leisure and hospitality jobs , generally fueled by tourism , increased 2.3 percent in the same period , triple the national growth rate , McSweeney said . `` The employment situation for March signals positive vibes for the Commonwealth , '' McSweeney said . `` Health care , education , leisure and hospitality , those gains are all good news for the state . '' The state reports March employment and unemployment on April 14 . In February , the state 's unemployment rate was 8.2 percent , well below the national average . The national unemployment rate , however , has fallen steeply in recent months , plunging a percentage point since November . Scott Ragusa , president of contract business at Winter , Wyman Cos. , a Waltham staffing firm , said he is seeing signs of the improvement locally . The firm 's client companies had 35 percent more jobs to offer last month than they did in March 2010 . Winter , Wyman itself currently has 26 job openings , primarily sales positions . Ragusa said the firm , which works with companies in the financial , technology , and human resources industries , said employers in all three sectors appear poised to hire . `` They 're adding in critical areas right now , '' Ragusa said of employers . `` But I would still say companies are running pretty lean compared to two years ago . '' Despite the job gains of recent months , the economy has only begun to recover from the recent recession , considered the worst since the Great Depression . The nation lost nearly 9 million jobs in the downturn , and has so far regained just 1.4 million of those jobs since the labor market began its rebound last year . `` It 's a long way back , '' McSweeney said . Not all the news in yesterday 's report was good . Despite recent job growth , long-term unemployment increased . About 6 million , or 45 percent , of the nation 's 13.5 million unemployed have been out of work for six months our more . That 's up from 43.9 percent in February . John E. Silvia , chief economist for Wells Fargo & Co. in Charlotte , N.C. , said the job gains primarily benefited highly skilled workers , including those who have extensive computer skills . `` The people benefiting from this -LSB- gain in jobs -RSB- are not the same people who lost their jobs three to five years ago , '' he said . `` And those jobs are not coming back . '' Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com .
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