US Adds 311,000 Jobs in February, Lagging Behind Six-Month Average

Job growth continued but slowed as the U.S. added 311,000 jobs in February.

That gain was lower than the revised 504,000 added jobs reported for January and the average monthly gain of 343,000 seen over the prior six months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in a Friday (March 10) press release.

“The February employment report was a positive one overall,” Curt Long, chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU), said in a statement emailed to PYMNTS. “Although the unemployment rate rose, job gains were strong and labor force participation grew signaling Main Street’s optimism in hiring.”

Five sectors led the job gains: leisure and hospitality, retail trade, government, professional and business services and healthcare, according to the release.

Leisure and hospitality added 105,000 jobs in February. Food services and drinking places accounted for 70,000 of those jobs, while accommodation added another 14,000.

“Employment in leisure and hospitality is below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 410,000, or 2.4%,” the BLS said in the release.

Retail trade added 50,000 jobs during the month, led by the general merchandise retailers that upped their employment by 39,000.

“Retail trade employment is little changed on net over the year,” the BLS said.

Government employment saw the third-largest increase among sectors, with an increase of 46,000. Local government accounted for 37,000 of those additional jobs.

“Overall, employment in government is below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 376,000, or 1.6%,” the BLS said.

Rounding out the five sectors with the biggest job gains in February were professional and business services, which added 45,000 jobs, and healthcare, which added 44,000.

Also making gains were construction, which added 24,000 jobs, and social assistance, which added 19,000.

Employment declined in information and in transportation and warehousing. The information industry lost 25,000 jobs, while transportation and warehousing lost 22,000.

Other major industries saw little change in employment, according to the release.

The unemployment rate edged up to 3.6% in February but has shown little net movement since early 2022, the release said.

“The job market continues to remain resilient and unemployment numbers are low, although the unemployment rate did inch up slightly in February,” CloudPay Senior Vice President of Payroll Operations John Pearce said in a statement emailed to PYMNTS. “This signals to employers that they must find creative ways to attract and retain employees.”