The unemployment rate, which is derived from a separate Labor Department survey of households, was projected to hold at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent, according to the survey median.
February’s gains combined with upward revisions to the December and January figures (to 271,000 and 152,000, respectively), compute to an average monthly job gain of 228,000 over the three month period from December, January, and February.
U.S. employers added 242,000 jobs last month, well above the 195,000 analysts were expecting and a huge bump from the 172,000 jobs added in January. And more Americans are getting on the band wagon: the participation rate – an indicator of how many people are working or looking for work – increased in February.
The U.S. labor market continued to strengthen after adding 2.65 million new jobs in 2015, the second-highest total (after 2014, when 3.1 million jobs were created) since the Internet boom of the late 1990s. The average length of the workweek also fell last month.
For the 12 months ended February 29, wages have increased 2.2 percent, which is well above the low inflation rate but off the annual pace recorded in the previous two months.
At the same time, payroll processor ADP reported a solid gain of 214,000 private-sector jobs last month. Healthcare, retail, and food service all saw big gains, making up for losses in the energy sector. The ADP Employment Report for February showed job growth of 214,000, up from 193,000 in January.
A report on Wednesday showed strong private sector hiring last month, suggesting a pick-up in overall job growth. Year-over-year, earnings have grown by 2.2 percent.
On a national scale, the job gains show that the US economy has weathered a global economic slowdown and falling financial markets without suffering much blowback, according to the Associated Press. Construction added 19,000 but mining-related industries lost 19,000 jobs.
Mining shed a further 18,000 jobs after losing 9,000 positions in January.
“First, average hourly earnings declined in February, slowing the wage acceleration momentum”.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 278,000 for the week ended Feb.27, the Labour Department said.
Although the average pay of workers in USA did slide last month after having increased in January, more Americans who had prior been sitting on the sidelines began their search for jobs last month and were also successful in finding them.
While job growth is improving, it hasn’t been fast enough to offset the growing labor force and compel employers to boost wages to lure and retain workers, said William Spriggs, chief economist at the AFL-CIO labor union. Despite this increase in job creation, the unemployment rate remained stable at 4.9% because another sign of dynamism, there were more new entrants to the labor market. Taking this together with recent better-than-expected readings on consumer and producer prices, it would seem that Fed chair Janet Yellen’s argument that low inflation is temporary is proving true.