Better than expected U.S. Jobs Report

March 7, 2014

New York (Mar 7) Jobs Report: U.S. Economy Added 175K Jobs In February, Unemployment Up To 6.7%.

Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released mixed jobs numbers with the economy adding more jobs than expected but the unemployment rate rising slightly.

Employers added 175,000 jobs in February, above the 150,000 economists had expected. The unemployment rate, which is drawn from a different survey of households, ticked up to 6.7% from 6.6% in January. The labor force participation rate came in at 63%, unchanged from January. The employment-population ratio was also consistent at 58.8%.

Employment numbers were revised up by 16,000 for January bringing the headline number to plus 129,000 jobs. December payroll was revised up 9,000 from 75,000 to 84,000, total employment gains those months were therefore 25,000 greater than previously reported. Job growth averaged 189,000 in the prior 12 months.

Following the news the S&P 500 and The Dow Jones Industrial Average were both in the green in pre-market trading, gaining about .5% a piece.

The sectors with the most jobs added were business services, wholesale trade and food services which gained 79,000, 15,000 and 21,000 respectively. Construction gained 15,000 jobs and healthcare gained 10,000. The growth sectors were partially offset by a 16,000 decline in information technology employment, which the BLS pointed out can be volatile, and a 4,000 job decline in retail trade. Employment in other industries, such as mining, manufacturing, transportation, financial activities and government, were little changed.

The good Job's Report sent stocks flying in the futures market with the Dow Index up 84 points to 16499 -- near an all-time record high.

Source: FORBES

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