US economy adds  235,000 jobs in February

This article is more than 12 months old

Mar 11, 2017 06:00 am

WASHINGTON: The US economy had another strong month of job creation in February, with the manufacturing, health care, mining and construction sectors all adding positions, the Labour Department reported yesterday.

Employers added a net 235,000 new positions for the month, well above an analyst forecast just shy of the 238,000 new positions added in January, official figures showed.

Meanwhile, in another sign that jobs markets are tightening, the already low unemployment rate fell a tenth of a point to 4.7 per cent.

That decline came even as the labour force participation rate rose to 63 per cent, a level not surpassed in almost three years, meaning people who had been on the sidelines are rejoining the labour market.

With February's robust job creation, the world's largest economy has added an average of 209,000 new jobs over the last three months.

The result was sure to boost expectations that the central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate next week. - AFP