Tag: February jobs report

Economists warn positive jobs report obscures challenges ahead

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A surprising February jobs gain and drop in the unemployment rate is obscuring the long road to a full recovery from the coronavirus recession, economists say.

The U.S. added 379,000 jobs last month, more than double what analysts had expected, and saw the jobless rate drop to 6.2 percent, the lowest level since March 2020.

While the February employment report showed signs of an accelerating recovery, the job gains were just a drop in the bucket compared to the deep damage built up within the labor market over the past year. The deceptively low unemployment rate also ignores the millions of Americans who’ve been forced out of the labor force by COVID-19 and its disproportionate toll on women of color. Continue reading.

Vaccine dreams juice jobs report

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Good news for your Friday: the economy added a whopping 379,000 jobs in February — far outpacing expectations. 

Why it matters: Virus cases eased in recent weeks and states lifted restrictions, helping fuel a hiring surge. It’s proof of how much control the pandemic has over the job market.

The clearest signal: The bounce-back was largely driven by hiring in the leisure and hospitality sectors, which came even in the dead of winter. Continue reading.

Economy adds just 20K jobs in February, far below expectations

The U.S. economy added 20,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported Friday, far below analysts’ expectations that the country would gain 180,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 3.8 percent as the labor force participation rate held steady at 63.2 percent. Hourly earnings also increased 3.4 percent in the past 12 months, beating expectations.

The underwhelming February numbers follow a stellar January jobs report, which was revised upward Thursday from 304,000 to 311,000 jobs.

View the complete March 8 article by Sylvan Lane on the Hill website here.