Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 313,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The news touched off a rally on Wall Street, which was looking for a gain of 205,000 jobs, that sent the Dow north of 25,000.
Employment rose in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities, and mining.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Blacks declined to 6.9% in February, while the jobless rates for adult men (3.7%), adult women (3.8%), teenagers (14.4%), Whites (3.7%), Asians (2.9%), and Hispanics (4.9%) showed little change.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 1.4 million in February and accounted for 20.7% of the unemployed. Over the year, the number of long-term unemployed was down by 369,000.
The civilian labor force rose by 806,000 in February. The labor force participation rate increased by 0.3 percentage point over the month to 63.0% but changed little over the year. (See table A-1.)
In February, total employment, as measured by the household survey, rose by 785,000. The employment-population ratio increased by 0.3 percentage point to 60.4% in February, following 4 months of little change.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 5.2 million in February. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut or because they were unable to find full-time jobs.
In February, construction employment increased by 61,000, with gains in specialty trade contractors (+38,000) and construction of buildings (+16,000). Construction has added 185,000 jobs over the past 4 months.
“The strong job growth assures at least three interest rates hikes by the Federal Reserve in 2018. Because of the low unemployment rate, further normalization in monetary policy should be expected in 2019 as well, meaning another three or four rate hikes next year,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Assocition of Realtors. “Mortgage rates will therefore rise and rise. That in itself hurts housing affordability. But factors that can help with affordability are more income to households (possibly a second income earner getting a job) and if home prices can finally moderate. For slower home price growth, more home construction is needed. Job openings in the construction industry remain at historic highs. It is now a matter of providing necessary skills to go into the industry.”
