The U.S. economy churned out a robust 295,000 jobs in February, reducing the nation’s unemployment rate to the lowest level in almost seven years and extending the best stretch of job creation since the mid-1990s.
The latest employment report offers more proof the economy is likely to continue to chug along in the wake of the biggest spurt of hiring since the Clinton era
The economy generated 295,000 new jobs last month, up from a revised 239,000 gain in January, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 5.5% from 5.7%, marking the lowest level since May 2008 in the early stages of the Great Recession.
Yet despite a prolonged surge in hiring, the wages of U.S. workers still aren’t growing very fast. Hourly wages rose three cents, or a scant 0.1%, to $24.78 U.S.
Over the past 12 months, wages have risen a mild 2%, about two-thirds as fast as they usually grow when the economy is growing rapidly. Economists say wages have to rise faster to spur the economic to new heights.
More people also stopped looking for work last month, reducing the percentage of Americans in the labour force to 62.8%. That’s near the lowest level since the late 1970s.
