The February jobs report showed the U.S. labor market continues to outperform expectations, with more than 300,000 new jobs created last month in the face of stubborn inflation and aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. economy added 311,000 jobs last month, more than expected, while the unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.6% on a rise in labor force participation. Economists had expected to see 225,000 new jobs added to the economy last month with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.4%, according to data from Bloomberg.
Here are the key numbers from Friday’s report, with results compared to January’s data:
- Nonfarm payrolls: +311,000 vs. +504,000
- Unemployment rate: 3.6% vs. 3.4%
- Average hourly earnings, month-on-month: plus-0.2% vs. plus-0.3%
- Average hourly earnings, year-on-year: plus-4.6% vs. plus-4.4%
- Labor force participation rate: 62.5% vs. 62.4%
- Average weekly hours worked: 34.5 vs. 34.6
Ahead of Friday’s report, investors were closely watching for revisions to January’s jobs data, which came in far stronger than forecast but was, in the eyes of some observers, boosted by seasonal factors and warm weather.
Revisions released Friday showed there were 504,000 jobs created in the first month of the year, a mere 13,000 fewer than previously reported. Monthly job gains over the last six months have now averaged 343,000.
By industry, Friday’s jobs report showed hiring remains particularly robust in the leisure & hospitality sector, as well as for retail, health care, and government jobs.
Click here to read the full report from Myles Udland at Yahoo News.
