Employers added 311,000 jobs in February, and unemployment ticked up from 3.4% in January to 3.6%, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The New York Times reported that an influx of more than 400,000 job seekers lifted the labor force participation rate, which had been slow to recover as older workers have been retiring early. The rate for those in their prime working years — ages 25 to 54 — jumped to 83.1%, exceeding prepandemic levels. Employment gains were led by such industries as leisure, which includes the boating industry, and hospitality, which added 105,000 jobs.
Construction continued to add jobs, as did health care, retail and professional and business services. The Wall Street Journal reported that employers had 10.8 million open jobs in January, down from 11.2 million in December. The totals nearly doubled the number of unemployed people seeking work.
Other sectors have lost momentum. The Times said the information industry, which includes technology firms, subtracted 25,000 jobs as layoffs hit Silicon Valley. Goods-related industries, including manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, were flat to negative. January job gains were revised down slightly remaining at 504,000.
The WSJ said the jobs report fit into a broader picture of economic resilience nearly a year after the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates to cool inflation. Chair Jerome Powell indicated this week that the Fed was keeping its options open about raising rates this month by a quarter or half percentage point.
The Fed has been trying to slow investment, spending and hiring to combat inflation by raising interest rates. After holding the benchmark federal-fund rates near zero through much of the pandemic, officials lifted the rate more during the past 12 months than at any time since the early 1980s, most recently to a range between 4.5% and 4.75%.
