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- The US unemployment rate was 3.9% in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- The release out Friday also showed there were 275,000 jobs added, larger than the forecast.
- Average hourly earnings in February also rose by 4.3% from a year earlier.
February's job growth was strong and similar to January's revised job gain.
According to Friday's news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US experienced job growth of 275,000 in February. That was above the forecast of 198,000. That also was larger than January's revised growth of 229,000. January's prior estimate was 353,000, as noted in the news release published in February.
Additionally, December's job growth of 333,000 stated in the February release was updated to 290,000 in the new report.
Leisure and hospitality saw large job growth in February, with an increase of 58,000.
"Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 42,000 in February, after changing little over the prior 3 months," the latest news release from BLS stated.
Government employment also increased by 52,000. Manufacturing and wholesale trade experienced a decline in their employment levels.
The unemployment rate ticked up from 3.7% in January to 3.9% in February, per Friday's news release. This rate was expected to come in at 3.7%.
The labor force participation rate remained at 62.5% in February, which was also the rate a year prior. The employment-to-population ratio also fell from 60.2% to 60.1%.
Additionally, the new data release noted average hourly earnings increased 4.3% from February 2023 to this past February. Year-over-year wage growth has been pretty similar in recent months, with most of the recent year-over-year increases in average hourly earnings being around 4.3%. Additionally, average hourly earnings increased from $34.52 in January to $34.57 in February.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported on job openings and other data for January earlier this week. Job openings fell by 26,000 from December's level to 8.9 million in January. The number of hires also ended up falling, dropping from around 5.8 million to 5.7 million. The number of quits declined as well, and the quits rate ticked down from 2.2% in December to 2.1% this past January. That's also way below the most recent high of 3.0% in April 2022.
"The once high-flying quits rate continues to fall and is now below its pre-pandemic level, which could signal both that workers that found good opportunities over the past few years and are happy to stay in their new role, and that workers are feeling less confident about their prospects for finding a new job," Nick Bunker, Indeed Hiring Lab economic research director for North America, said in written commentary.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.