Quick Facts:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 275,000 in February, and the unemployment rate increased to 3.9 percent.
- The unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 3.9 percent in February, and the number of unemployed people increased by 334,000 to 6.5 million.
- Job gains occurred in health care, in government, in food services and drinking places, in social assistance, and in transportation and warehousing.
- Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; information; financial activities; professional and business services; and other services.
Looking Forward:
- The US economy created more new jobs than expected in February, while an increase in the unemployment rate for the first time in four months and downward revisions to job growth in prior months suggested signs of some softening in the US labor market.
- A revised 229,000 jobs were added in January, according to the report, down from the 353,000 initially reported. In total, revisions showed there were 167,000 fewer jobs added in December and January than previously expected. Meanwhile, wages increased 0.1% on a monthly basis in February, slower than the 0.2% economists expected.
- Job creation skewed toward part-time positions. Full-time jobs decreased by 187,000 while part-time employment rose by 51,000, according to the household survey. An alternative jobless measure, sometimes called the “real” unemployment rate, that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons rose slightly to 7.3%.
- Job creation has stayed strong despite a spate of high-profile layoffs, particularly in the tech industry. Most recently, companies such as Cisco, Microsoft and SAP have announced substantial reductions in their workforces.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – The Employment Situation – February 2024
