Unemployment rate drops, 678,000 workers added

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported this morning that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8% in February, only slightly higher than the 3.5% that was reported in February 2020 before the Covid pandemic hit. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February. It had been forecast that the unemployment rate would drop to 3.9% with about 440,000 jobs added, so today’s report beat the forecasts.

The BLS reported job gains in leisure and hospitality, professional  and business services, health care, and construction. It said the average hourly wage for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was $31.58 in February, up by about one cent from January.

Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.1%. In February, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by eight cents to $26.94.

The unemployment rates for adult men was 3.5% and for Hispanics stood at 4.4%. For adult women, the jobless rate was 3.6%. For teenagers it was 10.3%.

The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, was essentially unchanged in February at 1.7 million, which is about 581,000 higher than had been the case in February 2020.

Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to increase, with a gain of 179,000 in February. However, since February 2020, employment in leisure and hospitality is down by 1.5 million, or 9%.

Employment in health care rose by 64,000 in February. Employment in health care is down by 306,000, or 1.9%, from its level in February 2020. Construction added 60,000 jobs in February, following little change in the prior month.

Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 48,000 in February and was 584,000 higher than in February 2020.