US Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday the US manufacturing sector appeared heading for recovery after nearly four years of decline, and he predicted job growth in the sector to grow in coming months.

"I think we've finally turned the corner in the long beleaguered manufacturing sector," Snow told CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" as he welcomed news in the March jobs report that factory payrolls were unchanged last month, breaking a string of 43 consecutive monthly declines.

Snow said the data were "very hopeful," adding, "In the months ahead, the expectation would be to see manufacturing pick up on the jobs front." He noted that US manufacturing output was already rising.

The Labour Department on Friday reported that US employment rose last month at the fastest pace in nearly four years as hiring jumped in a wide array of industries. While a long-hoped-for rise in manufacturing employment did not materialise, economists were encouraged by the lack of another decline in factory payrolls.