February U.S. Jobs Report: 275,000 Rise in Payrolls, Above Expectations

The U.S. economy added 275,000 jobs in February, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The government’s report revised down previous estimates for new job creation in January and December.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in February from 3.7% in January.

Economists had forecast nonfarm payroll employment would rise by 200,000 following an originally reported 353,000 increase in January, according to FactSet. The unemployment rate had been forecast to remain steady at 3.7%.

February Jobs Report Key Stats

• Total nonfarm payrolls climbed by 275,000 versus a downward revised 229,000 in January.
• The unemployment rate grew to 3.9% from 3.7% in January.
• Average hourly wages grew by 0.1% to $34.57 after rising 0.5% in January.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls grew to 34.3 hours in February, up from 34.2 in January. For manufacturing employees, the average workweek rose to 40.0 hours in February, and overtime grew to 2.9 hours. For production and nonsupervisory employees, the average workweek extended to 33.5 hours from 33.1 the prior month.

In February, average hourly wages climbed by 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $34.57. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.3%.

This article was partially generated by Wordsmith, an automated smart-text platform, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The article has been reviewed by Morningstar editors.