US employers added a robust 242,000 workers in February as retailers, restaurants and healthcare providers drove another solid month for the resilient American job market.
The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent.
The Post’s John Crudele predicted on Thursday that the February jobs number would come in above the 195,000 total Wall Street was predicting because of the generous seasonal adjustments the Labor Department sprinkled into its survey.
To be sure, there were plenty of mixed signals in the report, out Friday, to give both Wall Street and Main Street pause and to temper the celebrations about the US economy being clear of any recession fear.
For example:
- The average work week declined by 0.2 hours to 34.4 hours. If the economy was really humming, the work week would be expanding.
- Wages fell by 3 cents, to $25.35 an hour. Again, if there was strong demand for full-time jobs, the competition would drive up wages, not depress them.
- The number of people looking for full-time work but stuck in a part-time job, the so-called involuntary part-timers, was unchanged at 6 million and has shown little movement since November, the Labor Department said.
Still, the headline number — the one most media outlets will grab hold of and cling to — of 242,000 increased the average gain over the last three months to 228,000. And that has to play well with the psyches of Americans, which at times is just as important as actual wage growth.
Employers expect solid consumer demand in the months ahead even though the stock market has turned turbulent, oil prices have hurt energy industry jobs and a stronger dollar has reduced export sales.
Retailers added 54,900 jobs last month. Restaurants and bars added 40,200.
With Post wires
