U.S. added 273K jobs in February

Unemployment rate fell, matching 50-year low

Washington — Hiring in the United States jumped in February as employers added 273,000 jobs, evidence that the economy was in strong shape before the coronavirus began to sweep through the nation.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% last month, matching a 50-year low, down from 3.6% in January.

The monthly job gain comes from a survey of payrolls in the second week of February, predating the viral outbreak. So far, there are few signs that the job market has been affected by the disease, but most economists expect hiring to slow in the coming months.

Wage growth slowed slightly in February, rising 3% compared with a year earlier, down from a 3.1% yearover-year average gain in January. Paychecks have grown at a 3% pace or higher for more than a year and a half but have slowed since reaching 3.5% last summer.

The government on Friday also upgraded its estimate of job growth in December and January by a combined 85,000 more than it had previously reported. Over the past three months, U.S. employers have added 243,000 jobs — the best quarter pace since September 2016.

Unseasonably warm weather in February likely boosted hiring in the construction industry, which added 42,000 jobs, and hotels and restaurants, which gained nearly 50,000.

Manufacturing added 15,000, which probably won’t be replicated in the coming months because of supply chain disruptions in China. Last month’s totals include 7,000 temporary Census jobs to help compile the 2020 count.

If employers were to start slashing jobs as a consequence of the virus, it could significantly escalate the economic damage. For that reason, a range of job market barometers will provide some of the most vital signals about how the economy is withstanding the virus’s impact.

Widespread layoffs can transform slowdowns in just one or two sectors — the travel industry, say, or manufacturing — into a full-blown downturn for the overall economy. When workers lose jobs and pay, they typically cut spending. Their friends and relatives who are still employed grow anxious about their own jobs and wary of spending freely, a cycle that can trigger further job cuts.

So long as monthly job gains remain above 100,000 or so, the unemployment rate should stay low and the economy may be able to avoid a downturn. If the monthly pace were to sink below that level for a sustained period, joblessness would likely rise.

Before the viral outbreak struck China, shutting factories and causing shortages of parts and final products for U.S. manufacturers and retailers, the economy was expanding at a steady pace. Annual growth was 2.1% in the final three months of last year.