U.S. nonfarm payrolls increase much more than forecast in February; unemployment rate edges down

The U.S. Labor Department announced on Friday that nonfarm payrolls jumped by 379,000 in February after a revised 166,000 increase in the prior month (originally a gain of 49,000), reflecting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. This marked the largest monthly advance since October 2020.

According to the report, most of the job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality (+355,000 jobs), with smaller advances in temporary help services (+53,000), health care and social assistance (+46,000), retail trade (+41,000), and manufacturing (+21,000).

The unemployment rate fell to 6.2 percent in February from 6.3 percent in January. This was the lowest rate since March 2020.

Economists had forecast the nonfarm payrolls to increase by 182,000 and the jobless rate to remain at 6.3 percent.

The labor force participation rate remained at 61.4 percent in February, while hourly earnings for private-sector workers rose 0.2 percent m-o-m (or $0.07) to $30.01, following a revised 0.1 percent m-o-m advance in January (originally a gain of 0.2 percent m-o-m). Economists had forecast the average hourly earnings to increase 0.2 percent m-o-m in February. Over the year, average hourly earnings surged by 5.3 percent in February, following a revised 5.4 percent jump in January (originally a climb of 5.4 percent).

The average workweek decreased by 0.3 hour to 34.6 hours in February, being below economists' forecast for 34.9 hours.