More Americans seeking jobs are finding them, figures released this morning are indicating.
The American economy added a healthy 242,000 jobs in February, far better than its gains of 172,000 in January. Economists had predicted a gain of 190,000 jobs in February.
Unemployment stayed at 4.9% last month, the lowest mark since February 2008. It's at a level many experts consider to be "full employment."
The job market's momentum is quieting concerns from earlier this year that the U.S. economy would fall into recession this year. February's gains are the latest sign of good news: retail sales were solid in January and growth appears to be picking up
One sour note, however: wage growth disappointed in February, growing 2.2% in February compared to a year ago. That's below the past gains of 2.5% or more in previous months. The U.S. Federal Reserve wants to see wages grow around 3.5%.
Progress in the job market is a sign of the U.S. economy's resilience from the global slowdown. Other parts of the world -- from China and India to Europe and Latin America -- are suffering from slowing growth. The U.S. economy isn't immune to the headwinds from abroad: the U.S. manufacturing sector is in a five-month recession.
