    
Entrepreneur
Kurra Bewarse
Username: Entrepreneur
Post Number: 3389
Registered: 05-2011
Posted From: 65.35.45.47
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 05, 2021 - 1:11 pm: | 
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ECONX The fog lifts on hiring activity in February; nonfarm payrolls surge
The February Employment Situation Report was much better than expected on the payrolls front.
The key takeaway from the report is that it will be seen as a sign of even better things to come for the labor market, which bodes well for growth prospects. The increase in nonfarm payrolls was the strongest since October and the best pace for February in more than 20 years, which is encouraging in that it came in front of more states seemingly destined to relax Covid restrictions in coming months as vaccination rates improve.
The payrolls increase is the highlight of the report and is apt to be the lead headline when it comes to talking about the report; however, there is a soft underbelly to the report that should not go unnoticed. The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.4% (down from 63.3% a year ago), the U-6 unemployment rate is still high at 11.1%, and persons unemployed for 27 weeks or more accounted for 41.5% of the unemployed versus 39.5% in January. The pace of hiring might have picked up in February, yet the travails of the long-term unemployed did as well.
February nonfarm payrolls increased by 379,000 (Briefing.com consensus 200,000). The 3-month average for total nonfarm payrolls increased to 80,000 from 41,000 in January. January nonfarm payrolls revised to 166,000 from 49,000. December nonfarm payrolls revised to -306,000 from -227,000.
February private sector payrolls increased by 465,000 (Briefing.com consensus 195,000). January private sector payrolls revised to 90,000 from 6,000. December private sector payrolls revised to -274,000 from -204,000.
February unemployment rate was 6.2% (Briefing.com consensus 6.3%), versus 6.3% in January. Persons unemployed for 27 weeks or more accounted for 41.5% of the unemployed versus 39.5% in January. The U6 unemployment rate, which accounts for unemployed and underemployed workers, was 11.1%, unchanged from January.
February average hourly earnings increased 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) versus a downwardly revised 0.1% (from 0.2%) in January. Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen 5.3%, unchanged from the 12 months ending in January.
The average workweek in February was 34.6 hours (Briefing.com consensus 34.8), versus 34.9 hours in January. Manufacturing workweek decreased 0.2 hours to 40.2 hours. Factory overtime declined 0.1 hour to 3.1 hours.
The labor force participation rate was 61.4%, unchanged from January.
The employment-population ratio increased to 57.6% from 57.5% in January. |
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