The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported nonfarm payroll employment rose by 379,000 in February, nearly double analysts’ consensus expectations, as the unemployment fell 0.1 percent to 6.2 percent.
BLS reported sharp increases in employment in the leisure and hospitality sector. Employment in that sector increased 355,000, BLS reported, citing benefits gained from pandemic-related restrictions being eased in some areas of the country.
Council of Economic Advisors Chairwoman Cecilia Rouse said work remained to recover jobs lost in the past year.
“The economy remains down 9.5 million jobs from February 2020,” she said, “and will require more than two years of job growth at February’s pace just to get back to pre-pandemic levels.”
Although the unemployment rate fell, Rouse said more than 4 million workers have left the labor force since February 2020.
“Accounting for labor force dropouts and misclassification issues related to BLS’s survey questions would result in an unemployment rate around 9.5 percent,” she said. “This is not to say the headline unemployment rate is wrong, simply that in a pandemic, getting a full view of the economy requires looking at the data in multiple ways.”
The unemployment rate also varies substantially across groups, Rouse said. She said Black and Latino workers were particularly hard hit, with the adjusted rate for both in double digits.
