February 2020 Jobs Report

Unemployment Rate: 3.5 percent

Jobs Created: 273,000

Employment and Unemployment

1. The Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point to 3.5% in February.

2. Nonfarm jobs grew by 273,000 in February. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had expected 175,000 jobs.

3. Job gains for December and January were higher than originally reported. The department revised the job creation numbers up for those months by a combined 85,000 jobs.  

4. The U-6 unemployment rate, a measure that also includes part-time and discouraged workers, edged up 0.1 percentage point to 7.0%.

Labor Force Participation

1. The labor force participation rate, the share of people employed or looking for work, held steady at 63.4%.

Wages

1. In February, average hourly earnings for all employees in private nonfarm jobs increased by 9 cents to $28.52. They are up 3.0% from one year ago.