Job growth accelerated south of the border in February for an economy wrestling with swelling prices, the potential for higher interest rates and intensifying geopolitical problems.
Figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed non-farm payrolls for the month grew by 678,000 and the unemployment rate was 3.8%. That compared to estimates of 440,000 for payrolls and 3.9% for the jobless rate.
In a sign that inflation could be cooling in the U.S., wages barely rose for the month, up just one cent an hour or 0.03%, compared to estimates for a 0.5% gain. The year-over-year increase was 5.13%, well below the 5.8% Dow Jones estimate.
For the labour market broadly, the report brought the level of employed Americans closer to pre-pandemic levels, though still short by 1.14 million. Labour shortages remain a major obstacle to fill the 10.9 million jobs that were open at the end of 2021, a historically high gap that had left about 1.7 vacancies per available workers.
As has been the case for much of the pandemic era, leisure and hospitality led job gains, adding 179,000 for the month. The job gap for that sector, which was hit most by government-imposed restrictions, is 1.5 million from pre-COVID levels.