Economic Watch: Jobs Booming, Manufacturing Throttles Back
Employers in the U.S. added far more jobs in February than analysts were expecting, but there are some concerns about the nation’s manufacturing sector as consumer credit slowed and the trade deficit hit a near 10-year high.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that there were 313,000 non-farm job additions last month, the most since October 2015, while the unemployment rate held steady for the fifth straight month at 4.1%. The unemployment rate remained at an 18-year low as an increase in the labor force participation rate in February kept it from declining.
For-hire trucking added 5,600 jobs in February, one of its best performances in recent memory, as the wider transportation and warehousing sector saw an increase of 15,400 jobs.
Outside of trucking there were notable job gains in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities, and mining.
Average hourly wages increased 2.6% over the past year, down from 2.9% in January.
BMO Capital Markets Economic Research noted the two previous monthly increases were revised up by a total of 54,000 jobs, and the three-month trend of 242,333 is well above last year’s average of 182,333, marking an acceleration in hiring.
“The report all but cements a Federal Reserve [interest] rate hike on March 21, and, despite the easing in wage growth, leans toward four moves this year, as we expect,” said BMO.
This followed a report two days earlier from payroll processor ADP that showed non-farm private employers in the U.S. added 235,000 jobs in February, better than Wall Street estimates.
The January total of jobs added was revised upward from 234,000 to 244,000, and down from December’s level of 249,000 new jobs, which is the highest number since February 2017 when there were 280,000 job additions.
February also marked the fourth month in a row job gains were greater than 200,000.
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