The government has reported that the nation’s unemployment rate moved moderately higher in March, despite the fact that American businesses added jobs for the first time since July 2001, according to The New York Times.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent in March from 5.5 percent in February, the Labor Department reports. Last month’s figure was slightly higher than Wall Street economists’ expectations of a 5.6 percent jobless rate.

However, in an unexpected show of strength, employers added 58,000 jobs outside of the farming sector in March. Economists had predicted that businesses would tack on 50,000 new jobs. Still, that information was tempered by a revision in the number of jobs created in February. Instead of adding 66,000 new jobs, the economy actually cut 2,000 positions in February.

According to the article, there are a few bright spots in the Labor Department’s report, such as the service-producing sector, in which employment in the services industry rose by 118,000, its largest month-to-month increase since September 2000, the government said. However, the manufacturing sector continued to lose jobs in March, but for the second consecutive month, the sector appeared to be shedding workers at a slower pace.

In March, manufacturers cut 38,000 jobs, compared with a loss of 54,000 in February. From January 2001 to January 2002, job losses in the nation’s factories averaged 111,000 a month, the Labor Department said.

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