The bullish report beat analysts’ expectations. Experts had only expected the U.S. economy to add some 175,000 jobs during the month, although they foresaw a 3.5 percent unemployment rate.
“Word that 273,000 jobs were added indicates that the job market was in a good place in mid-February, with many employers managing to forge ahead despite worker shortages in some sectors and regions,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com.
Average hourly earnings also rose 9 cents from January to hit $28.52 and have gained 3 percent over the past year. Among key individual sectors, hourly pay rose to $20.13 for retail workers, up slightly from $20.09 in January and 3.7 percent higher than February 2019’s $19.42. In the leisure and hospitality sector, average hourly earnings hit $16.87, up slightly from January’s $16.82 and up 3 percent from February 2019’s $16.38.
Still, the strong report did little to impress a Wall Street that remains worried about how much the coronavirus will hurt the U.S. and global economies. Stocks resumed their coronavirus-related fall Friday morning (March 6), with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 681.62 points at 25,439.66 shortly after 10 a.m. ET. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield also fell further into record-low territory, dropping 0.244 percent to 0.682 percent.
