Employment continued to increase in the United States in March even as the unemployment rate edged down.

Nonfarm increased 303,000, and the jobless rate slipped a tenth of a point to 3.8 percent, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Initial estimates for payroll gains the previous two months  were revised upward a total of 22,000 as an upward revision of 27,000 to 256,000 in January more than offset a downward revision of 5,000 to 270,000 for February.

The latest numbers for the last three months all exceeded an average monthly gain of 231,000 over the past year.

For March, 6.4 million people were counted among those unsuccessfully looking for work. Of those, 1.2 million have been out of work 27 weeks or longer. Another 4.3 million people were counted among those working part-time because their hours were cut or they were unable to find full-time positions.

The labor participation rate — the proportion of the population working or looking for work — rose two-tenths of a percent to 62.7 percent.

Payroll gains in March were spread out among industry sectors. Employment increased 72,000 in health care,  49,000 in leisure and hospitality and 39,000 in construction. Government payrolls grew 71,000.

The average workweek lengthened a tenth of an hour to 34.4 hours. The average manufacturing work week held steady at 40 hours.

Average hourly earnings increased 12 cents to $34.69. Over the past year, hourly earnings rose 4.1 percent.