[h=3]By JEFFREY SPARSHOTT And SARAH PORTLOCK[/h]WASHINGTON—U.S. job growth jumped ahead in February, a sign of a steadily improving labor market and stronger economic gains.
Employers added 236,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.7%, the lowest level since the end of 2008.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast that nonfarm payrolls would rise by 160,000 and the unemployment rate would fall to 7.8%
Markets reacted positively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its record, and European indexes were broadly higher. The dollar strengthened against the euro and yen, and the 10-year Treasury note saw its yield rise.
February's numbers point to an upturn for the labor market. For all of last year, the economy added an average of about 183,000 jobs a month. Over the past four months, that pace has picked up a little to an average of 205,000 a month. That's helped bring down the unemployment rate, though about 12 million Americans who wanted a job couldn't find one last month.
[h=3]A Historical View[/h]U.S. unemployment since 1948
The latest snapshot of the labor market comes against a backdrop of an improving housing market, big gains for the stock market, rising consumer confidence and other signs of momentum for the economy.
Still, higher payroll taxes and government cutbacks have weighed on growth.
That has led many economists to expect only moderate gains this year. Forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, for example, predicted the economy will expand only 2.1% this year—little changed from the 2.2% rate in 2012.
And the unemployment rate is expected to remain well above the 6.5% threshold the Federal Reserve is targeting before allowing interest rates to rise. The Fed's policy-making committee is determined "to keep monetary policy highly accommodative until well into the recovery," Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen said earlier this week. The Fed's next policy meeting is March 19-20.
Friday's report showed that private companies added 246,000 jobs during February, accounting for all of the month's gains. Employment increased in professional and business services such as accounting, construction, health care and retail. Manufacturers added 14,000 jobs.
Governments, meanwhile, shed 10,000 positions. The federal workforce was unchanged but state and local governments made big cuts, particularly to education.
Despite government cutbacks, TD Securities said the "encouraging tone of the data seen during the past few weeks" shows "that the U.S. recovery is successfully navigating against the headwinds from fiscal austerity."
Average earnings rose by 4 cents to $23.82 an hour, while the average workweek inched ahead by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours.
A broader measure of unemployment—which includes job seekers as well as those stuck in part-time jobs—fell to 14.3% in February from 14.4% the prior month.
Write to Jeffrey Sparshott at [email protected] and Sarah Portlock at [email protected]
Employers added 236,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.7%, the lowest level since the end of 2008.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast that nonfarm payrolls would rise by 160,000 and the unemployment rate would fall to 7.8%
Markets reacted positively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its record, and European indexes were broadly higher. The dollar strengthened against the euro and yen, and the 10-year Treasury note saw its yield rise.
February's numbers point to an upturn for the labor market. For all of last year, the economy added an average of about 183,000 jobs a month. Over the past four months, that pace has picked up a little to an average of 205,000 a month. That's helped bring down the unemployment rate, though about 12 million Americans who wanted a job couldn't find one last month.
[h=3]A Historical View[/h]U.S. unemployment since 1948
The latest snapshot of the labor market comes against a backdrop of an improving housing market, big gains for the stock market, rising consumer confidence and other signs of momentum for the economy.
Still, higher payroll taxes and government cutbacks have weighed on growth.
That has led many economists to expect only moderate gains this year. Forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, for example, predicted the economy will expand only 2.1% this year—little changed from the 2.2% rate in 2012.
And the unemployment rate is expected to remain well above the 6.5% threshold the Federal Reserve is targeting before allowing interest rates to rise. The Fed's policy-making committee is determined "to keep monetary policy highly accommodative until well into the recovery," Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen said earlier this week. The Fed's next policy meeting is March 19-20.
Friday's report showed that private companies added 246,000 jobs during February, accounting for all of the month's gains. Employment increased in professional and business services such as accounting, construction, health care and retail. Manufacturers added 14,000 jobs.
Governments, meanwhile, shed 10,000 positions. The federal workforce was unchanged but state and local governments made big cuts, particularly to education.
Despite government cutbacks, TD Securities said the "encouraging tone of the data seen during the past few weeks" shows "that the U.S. recovery is successfully navigating against the headwinds from fiscal austerity."
Average earnings rose by 4 cents to $23.82 an hour, while the average workweek inched ahead by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours.
A broader measure of unemployment—which includes job seekers as well as those stuck in part-time jobs—fell to 14.3% in February from 14.4% the prior month.
Write to Jeffrey Sparshott at [email protected] and Sarah Portlock at [email protected]