Friday, March 9, 2018

February's Jobs Report

The U.S. economy added a surprisingly strong 313,000 jobs in February, according to this morning’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate held steady for the fifth straight month at 4.1 percent, an 18-year low.

Construction, retail, manufacturing and health care drove most of the growth in February. Specialty trade contractors saw employment gains of 38,000, while building assembly jobs jumped by 16,000. Retail trade expanded by a whopping 50,000 jobs. Manufacturing maintained a course of steady growth in February, increasing by 31,000 jobs, with most of them sprouting in transportation equipment (8,000) and fabricated metal products (6,000).

Wage growth came in less than expected, rising 0.1 percent for the month and 2.6 percent on an annual basis. That's helping to dampen fears that inflation may be on the rise again.

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