Employment in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of February, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, although the report also showed a modest drop in employee wages.
The report said total non-farm employment jumped by 242,000 jobs in February compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 190,000 jobs.
Job growth in December and January was also upwardly revised to 271,000 and 172,000, respectively, reflecting a net upward revision of 30,000 jobs.
The Labor Department said the stronger than expected job growth reflected employment gains in health care and social assistance, retail trade, food services and drinking places, and private educational service.
The report also said household employment jumped by 530,000 people, while the labor force increased by 555,000 people.
The unemployment rate was subsequently unchanged from the previous month at 4.9 percent, holding at its lowest level since February of 2008. The unchanged reading on unemployment matched estimates.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department also said average hourly employee earnings dipped 3 cents or 0.1 percent to $25.35. Earnings were up by 2.2 percent year-over-year.
Analysts have recently been focused on wages amid ongoing uncertainty about the outlook for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
"Overall, it's clear that labor market conditions are still strong," said Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics. "The lack of a more marked pick-up in wage growth is the only missing element."
"But as far as the Fed is concerned, it is already seeing a clear acceleration in core price inflation, so it can't delay raising interest rates for much longer," he added. "A June rate hike is coming."
The Fed is scheduled to hold its next two-day monetary policy on March 15th and 16th, followed by meetings in April and June.
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