The pace of hiring in the United States fell last month to its lowest point in nearly a year and a half, a surprise drop likely reflecting harsh weather and other temporary factors that led most economists to see the slowdown as a temporary blip.Employers added just 20,000 jobs, down from a blockbuster 311,000 in January. Even with February's anemic gain, job growth over the past three months has averaged a solid 186,000, enough to lower the unemployment rate over time.
And average hourly pay surged 3.4 percent from a year earlier — the sharpest year-over-year increase in a decade. The unemployment rate also dropped to 3.8 percent, near the lowest level in five decades, from 4 percent in January.
All told, Friday's monthly employment report from the government pointed to a still-sturdy job market and economy.
"The U.S. labor market is still in good shape," said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial. "Slower job growth was expected after huge average gains of better than 250,000 over the preceding four months. Job growth should bounce back in March and through the rest of this year."
Last month's pullback in hiring does follow signs that U.S. economic growth is probably slowing because of a weaker global economy, a trade war between the United States and China and signs of caution among American consumers. Those factors have led many analysts to forecast anemic growth in the first three months of this year.
But most economists still cautioned against reading too much into February's sluggish pace of hiring. The monthly employment data can be volatile. During the nearly decade-long recovery from the Great Recession, job growth has sometimes plunged in a single month — to 15,000 in May 2016, for example, and to 18,000 in September 2017 — only to rebound to healthy levels in the months that followed.
And February's increase in average pay suggests that businesses are stepping up their efforts to attract and keep workers. The year-over-year increase of 3.4 percent in February is up from a corresponding figure of just 2.6 percent a year ago. abcnews
And average hourly pay surged 3.4 percent from a year earlier — the sharpest year-over-year increase in a decade. The unemployment rate also dropped to 3.8 percent, near the lowest level in five decades, from 4 percent in January.
All told, Friday's monthly employment report from the government pointed to a still-sturdy job market and economy.
"The U.S. labor market is still in good shape," said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial. "Slower job growth was expected after huge average gains of better than 250,000 over the preceding four months. Job growth should bounce back in March and through the rest of this year."
Last month's pullback in hiring does follow signs that U.S. economic growth is probably slowing because of a weaker global economy, a trade war between the United States and China and signs of caution among American consumers. Those factors have led many analysts to forecast anemic growth in the first three months of this year.
But most economists still cautioned against reading too much into February's sluggish pace of hiring. The monthly employment data can be volatile. During the nearly decade-long recovery from the Great Recession, job growth has sometimes plunged in a single month — to 15,000 in May 2016, for example, and to 18,000 in September 2017 — only to rebound to healthy levels in the months that followed.
And February's increase in average pay suggests that businesses are stepping up their efforts to attract and keep workers. The year-over-year increase of 3.4 percent in February is up from a corresponding figure of just 2.6 percent a year ago. abcnews