February Jobs Report Beats Wall Street Expectations, 235K Jobs Added

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By Ted Goodman

The U.S. economy added 235,000 new jobs in February, according to the jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Friday.

The labor force participation rate rose to 63 percent during President Donald Trump’s full first full month in office, up from 62.9 percent in January.

The 235,000 jobs figure beat Wall Street expectations of 196,000. The unemployment rate decreased slightly from January, ticking down from 4.8 percent to 4.7 percent.

The Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates, with Chairwoman Janet Yellen asserting that if the report met expectations, an interest rate hike would be “appropriate. (RELATED: A Positive Jobs Report Could Mean Interest Rate Hike)

“At our meeting later this month, the committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with our expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate,” Yellen said during a March 3 address at a business luncheon in Chicago.

The Fed increased rates for the second time in a decade in December, but didn’t raise the interest rate during its first meeting under the Trump administration. The next meeting is March 14.

The sectors that saw the greatest job growth included construction, private educational services and manufacturing. Construction rose by 58,000 in February and by 177,000 over the past six months. The private educational services sector added 29,000 jobs.

Employment in mining increased by 8,000 in February, with most of the gains coming in support activities for mining.

Retail trade employment dropped by 26,000 in February, likely due to the end of the holiday shopping season. Employment in other major industries, including wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and government showed little or no change in February, according to the report.

Hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 6 cents to $26.09.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for December was revised down from 157,000 to 155,000 jobs and the chnge fo January was revised up from 227,000 to 238,000.

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