A woman walks past a bar in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. US employers added 916,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate edging down to 6.0 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

People enter a beauty supply store in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. US employers added 916,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate edging down to 6.0 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

US employers added 916,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate edging down to 6.0 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Job growth was "widespread" in the month, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, public and private education, and construction, according to the report released by the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 280,000, as pandemic-related restrictions eased in many parts of the country, the report showed, while noting that the figure is still down by 3.1 million, or 18.5 percent, since February 2020.

People are seen in front of a restaurant in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. US employers added 916,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate edging down to 6.0 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

People are seen in front of a restaurant in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. US employers added 916,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate edging down to 6.0 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

In March, employment increased in both public and private education, reflecting the continued resumption of in-person learning and other school-related activities, according to the report.

Construction added 110,000 jobs in March, following job losses of 56,000 in the previous month that were "likely weather-related," the report said.

The unemployment rate is down considerably from its recent high in April 2020 but is still 2.5 percentage points higher than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, the report showed.

Despite the improvement in the pandemic-ravaged labor market, some 9.7 million people remained unemployed in March, 4.0 million higher than the pre-pandemic level, according to the report.

The labor force participation rate, meanwhile, changed little at 61.5 percent in March, which is 1.8 percentage points lower than in February 2020.

The number of permanent job losers, at 3.4 million, was little changed in March, but is 2.1 million higher than a year earlier, according to the report.

Amid widespread COVID-19 shutdowns in March and April last year, 22 million Americans lost their jobs. Despite an improvement in the devastated labor market, the recovery has slowed in recent months.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised up by 67,000, to 233,000, and the change for February was revised up by 89,000 to 468,000.

US unemployment is expected to decline to 5.0 percent by year-end and 4.4 percent by the end of 2022, still higher than the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)'s semiannual Global Economic Prospects released Thursday.

People walk past a restaurant in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 2, 2021. US employers added 916,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate edging down to 6.0 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)