Most analysts expect that non-farm payroll employment rose by 150,000 to 200,000 jobs in March.

So are housing starts, non-farm employment, exports and business confidence.

Analysts see little chance that January's huge 408,000 increase in non-farm payroll employment will be repeated.

The 34,000 increase in non-farm payroll employment was within the 30,000 to 50,000 rise most Wall Street economists had expected.

The market rose initially on a report that non-farm employment had gained and unemployment was remaining steady.

In advance of the report, most analysts were projecting that non-farm payroll employment probably rose by between 20,000 and 40,000 jobs last month.

In advance of this morning's report, most analysts were projecting that non-farm payroll employment rose by 250,000 to 270,000 last month.

The data showed an increase of 279,000 in non-farm payroll employment, down from a revised 406,000 rise in November.

Mr. Tung said non-farm employment was expected to show a continued, but a slower rate of growth.

In mid-2011, Oklahoma had a civilian labor force of 1.7 million and total non-farm employment fluctuated around 1.5 million.