DATA SNAP:US Feb Payrolls +227K; Unemployment Remains 8.3%
Last update: 3/9/2012 8:33:47 AM
========================================================== Feb Employment Report ! Consensus: ! Feb Jan ! Payrolls: ! Payrolls +227K +284Kr ! +213K ! Unemployment Rate 8.3% 8.3% ! Actual: ! Hourly Earnings $23.31 $23.28r! +227K ! ========================================================== By Josh Mitchell and Eric Morath Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. job creation remained solid in February and was stronger in previous months than initially thought, marking one of the economy's best stretches of the nearly three-year-old recovery.
Jobs outside of agriculture grew by 227,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Meanwhile, employers added 284,000 jobs in January--roughly 40,000 higher than an initial estimate--and job creation was also revised higher for December.
Overall, the economy has added an average 245,000 jobs over the past three months--more than double the pace of job creation between May and November.
The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, remained at 8.3%, as both hiring and the number of job seekers increased.
The economy has defied economists' expectations of slower job growth to start 2012. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a gain of 213,000 in payrolls and for the jobless rate to remain at 8.3% for February.
Private companies again fueled the growth, adding 233,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department said. That more than offset 6,000 job cuts by government.
Job growth came from a variety of sectors. Professional and business services, healthcare, and leisure and hospitality industries had the largest increases. Manufacturing employment rose by 31,000. Construction employment remained unchanged.
The report comes ahead of next week's meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers. The strong job growth raises questions for the Federal Reserve, where officials have been surprised that the unemployment rate has fallen so quickly recently given the recovery's lackluster pace. If growth or inflation pick up much, officials seem unlikely to launch a bond-buying program because the economy might not need the extra help or because doing more could spur higher inflation.
In another positive sign, wages increased. Average hourly earnings ticked up 3 cents to $23.31. Still, wages were only up 1.9% from a year ago, not enough to keep up with inflation.
Also, a broader measure of unemployment--which includes job seekers as well as those stuck in part-time jobs--clicked down to 14.9% from 15.1%.
The Labor Department's employment report can be accessed at: bls.gov
-By Josh Mitchell and Eric Morath; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 09, 2012 08:30 ET (13:30 GMT) |
