The US economy continued to add a significant number of jobs in February, rising by 311,000 while the unemployment rate rose to 3.6%.
The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics come as the Federal Reserve looks for signs that the economy is slowing and that its aggressive interest rate hikes are working. Job growth slowed from January, but was still higher than expected.
The unemployment rate is still very low due to many vacant positions.
The biggest increases were in the leisure and hospitality, retail, government and healthcare sectors. Information industries and transportation and storage recorded declines.
The latest report also made headlines about job cuts in the entertainment, media and technology sectors. Jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industry fell by 9,000 and in the telecommunications sector there was a drop of 3,000. Overall, jobs in the information sector fell by 54,000 since November, according to the BLS.
The January jobs report showed a massive increase of 517,000 jobs, leading some economists to question whether it was an anomaly or whether the data was being revised. The BLS did make a revision, but lowered its estimate by just 13,000 jobs.
Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi wrote on Twitter that the latest jobs report was “generally good. Yes, the 311,000 job growth is still too strong, but hours worked have decreased and labor supply is also strong, hence the rise in labor force participation and the unemployment rate. And wage growth is slowing.”
The number of jobs also fell in other media and entertainment sectors. Employment in publishing fell by 5,100 to 941,400 and jobs in broadcasting and other content providers fell by 2,900 to 354,500.
There is more to come.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
