The great American jobs creation machine is firing on all cylinders, with February’s jobs figures showing far more strength than expected and both January and December being raised higher than previously reported.
The U.S. economy added 273,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5 percent, the government said Friday.
Economists had forecast 175,000 nonfarm payroll growth and the unemployment rate to tick down slightly to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent the prior month.
Average hourly earnings were up by 3 percent compared with a year ago. The average workweek climbed a bit to 34.4 hours.
Alexei Navalny’s widow demands ‘accountability’ for Putin after European leaders say husband was poisoned
ICE ramps up deportation push by boosting capacity to 92,600 beds with $38.3B expansion
A $10 Walmart gun holster could help identify suspect in Nancy Guthrie case
Casey Wasserman to sell his talent agency after becoming ‘distraction’ due to Epstein files
Fetterman slams Democrats’ ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ voter ID rhetoric as party unity fractures
ICE officers face criminal probe for alleged ‘untruthful statements’ under oath about Minneapolis shooting
Heroic 12-Year-Old Tried to Save Classmates from Trans Mass Shooter: She’s in Critical Condition
Zelensky offers to ‘give a ceasefire to the Russians if they do elections’ in Munich plea
CNN’s Data Guru Reveals How the Far-Left Is Devouring Democratic Party
Microsoft AI Chief Says Artificial Intelligence Will Do Most White-Collar Work by Next Year
Cities Church Defendant Who Likes Terrorizing Christian Children Launches Bizarre Message Outside Courtroom
Rubio breaks with Vance in tone of Munich address and tells Europe ‘we belong together’
SWAT swarms locations near Nancy Guthrie’s home as DNA found on property
Jasmine Crockett: ‘If I Go to Sleep, Democracy Very Well May Die’
Top Goldman Sachs Lawyer Quits Over Epstein Relationship, Media Glosses Over Her Connection to Obama
December’s estimate of payroll growth was revised upward by 37,000 to 184,000. January’s number was revised up by 48,000 to 273,000. That adds a total of 85,000 more jobs than had previously been reported putting the three-month moving average at 243,000 jobs
The labor market has been a bright spot for the American economy in recent months, with unemployment at or near 50-year lows and the economy continuing to add hundreds of thousands of jobs month after month. The strength of the labor market has boosted consumer sentiment and consumer spending, keeping the pace of economic growth stronger than in many of the other major economies around the world.
The coronavirus is widely expected to slow economic growth this year, although the impact may be short-lived if the outbreak is contained or fizzles out after a few months. The Labor Department said there was no sign that the outbreak had hurt employment in February. The strength of the labor market, however, may bolster the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure.
Story cited here.
