The US economy added 236,000 new jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Friday.
The new numbers beat economists expectations, who had forecast the economy would have only added around 171,000 jobs, and the jobless rate to drop back to the 7.8 percent it was back in September.
In February, employment in construction increased by 48,000. Since September, construction employment has risen by 151,000. The health care industry also continued to add jobs in February, to the tune of 32,000 last month. Within health care, there was a job gain of 14,000 in ambulatory health care services, which includes doctors' offices and outpatient care centers.
Employment continued to trend up in retail trade in February. Retail trade has added 252,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Employment also continued to trend up over the month in food services and drinking places and in wholesale trade. Employment in other major industries showed little change over the month.
To read the entire report, visiting the Bureau of Labor Statistics website by clicking here: February Jobs Report
