February Job Growth Beats Forecasts

The U.S. economy added 678,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8%, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report on Friday (March 4).

Economists had estimated new jobs added would come in at 440,000 with a jobless rate of  3.9%, CNBC reported.

February’s job growth showed the biggest monthly gain since July, as the employment picture started moving closer to pre-pandemic levels. New jobs were led by gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, healthcare, and construction.

The number of people collecting jobless benefits fell to 6.3 million, compared to February 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, and the unemployed total was 5.7 million.

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Leisure and hospitality employment gained 179,000 jobs in February but compared to the same month in 2020, overall employment is down in the sector by 1.5 million or 9.0%. Professional and business services added 95,000 jobs in February, with more than one-third (36,000) added in temp services. Total employment in that space is 596,000 higher than in February 2020, per the BLS report.

Employment in healthcare went up 64,000 in February, down overall by 306,000, or 1.9%, from its level in February 2020. Construction added 60,000 jobs, with total employment in the industry down 11,000 from February 2020. Transportation and warehousing gained 48,000 new positions, and overall is 584,000 higher than in February 2020.

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The retail trade added 37,000 jobs in February, with almost one-third of the gains, 12,000, in garden supply stores. Employment in the space is up 104,000 over February 2020. Manufacturing added 36,000 and durable goods gained 20,000. Employment in financial activities increased by 35,000 and is overall higher than February 2020 by  31,000.

“This report indicates that the job market is healthy and resilient to the ebbs and flows of the pandemic,” Daniel Zhao, senior economist for job placement site Glassdoor, told CNBC. “We’ve seen that job gains have been over 400,000 for 10 months in a row.”