453,000 more jobs added in third year of recovery

The U.S. probably created 20 percent more jobs in the economy’s third year of recovery than previously estimated, with businesses hiring nearly half a million more workers than earlier thought.

In its latest employment revision, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday that the economy added 386,000 more jobs than its earlier estimate, bringing total hiring from April 2011 through March 2012 to 2.3 million. The private sector added more than 453,000 jobs, the report said.

In the previous calculation, based on a survey of businesses and government offices, the government said the economy had added 1.9 million jobs. The latest revision comes after the agency conducted a routine and more-thorough analysis based on far more detailed data.

Several times a year, the government updates the jobs numbers using data from state unemployment offices, which is far more accurate than the national monthly jobs survey (but takes longer to collect). Those are the numbers released yesterday. In the year through March, according to the latest update, the economy added more jobs than earlier surveys suggested.