Mild weather likely boosted construction payrolls by 23,000 jobs. Retail employment increased. Professional and business services payrolls grew slightly as temporary help services hiring fell for the 22nd month in a row, indicating future hiring.
Some economists saw the steady reduction in temporary help positions and the 4,000 dip in manufacturing payrolls as indicators of a labor market slowdown.
Last month, average hourly wages rose 0.1% after 0.5% in January. This dropped February's year-over-year wage growth to 4.3% from 4.4% in January.
Despite warming up following January's winter, the average workweek grew to 34.3 hours from 34.2. After falling in January, total hours worked rose 0.4%. After strong improvements since the second quarter of 2023, economists predicted worker productivity growth to dip to 1.0% this quarter. That might derail mid-year rate cuts.
“One important concern is that the decline in productivity gains translates in an increase in unit labor costs, which feeds through to higher price mark-ups," said Boston College economics professor Brian Bethune. As 150,000 people joined the workforce, the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since January 2022. Other household survey details were positive. Fewer persons had long-term unemployment in February.
The prime age labor force participation rate rose to 83.5% from 83.3% in January. Women 25-54 increased their participation percentage to 77.7% from 77.4% last month. The prime-age employment-to-population ratio, which measures an economy's job creation, rose to 80.7% from 80.6% in January.
"This report is a welcome cooling breeze for those who are worried about unpleasant market heat after the past few months," said Nick Bunker, who is the economic research director for North America at Indeed Hiring Lab.
"And if you're concerned about a labor market on unsteady ground, you shouldn't be too frightened."
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