US February non-farm payrolls rise more than expected

The Non-farm payrolls data in the US released today showed the US economy added 295K jobs, beating the expected figure of 235K by a wide margin. The January’s figure was revised lower to 239K from the initial estimate of 257K.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.5%, beating the estimate of 5.6%. The unemployment rate in January stood at 5.7%. The labor force participation rate dipped to 62.8% from 62.9% in January. The average hourly earnings rose 0.1% month-on-month in January, missing the estimate of 0.2%, and dropping sharply from the previous figure of 0.5%.

Overall, the data are encouraging except the downward revision of January’s payrolls figure and a decline in the wages seen in February.