"The economic winds remained at our back in February, with the addition of 295,000 new jobs."That makes 12 months in a row of at least 200,000 new jobs, the longest such streak in nearly 20 years. And for five years now — 60 uninterrupted months — private sector employment growth has continued unabated to the tune of more than 12 million jobs overall. The labor market continues to strengthen, as the economy has increasingly added middle and high-wage jobs over the last two years.
"The unemployment rate of 5.5 percent is the lowest it's been since the spring of 2008. And in 2014, unemployment fell in all 50 states for the first time in 30 years.
"But this isn't a moment to take a victory lap or spike the football. We're doing very well, but we can do even better, especially with so many working families still not being lifted by the rising tide. That's why the president is resolute in his belief and pursuit of middle-class economics. That's why he wants to eliminate barriers to education and prepare more people for 21st century jobs. That's why he believes we should fix our broken immigration system and fix our crumbling roads and bridges, which are stifling economic growth.
"We must help more people reap the benefits of a growing economy, ensuring that no one gets left on the sidelines as this recovery continues to gather steam. That's the idea behind the president's My Brother's Keeper initiative, launched a year ago to close opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color. This week, the White House released a one-year report demonstrating progress toward MBK goals, with nearly 200 local leaders answering the call to mobilize their communities toward concrete action on these pressing challenges.
"Middle-class economics also means the security of a dignified retirement after years of hard work. So last month at the president's direction, the Labor Department took an important step toward updating the rules governing retirement advice, to ensure that financial advisers are putting their clients' interests above their own.
"There is every reason to be bullish about the direction of our economy. But there's every reason also to believe we can work together on common-sense, bipartisan solutions that will lead to even greater job growth and shared prosperity in the months and years to come."
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- FEBRUARY 2015
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 295,000 in February, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in food services and drinking places, professional and business services, construction, health care, and in transportation and warehousing. Employment in mining was down over the month.
Household Survey Data
Both the unemployment rate (5.5 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (8.7 million) edged down in February. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 1.2 percentage points and 1.7 million, respectively.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for teenagers decreased by 1.7 percentage points to 17.1 percent in February. The jobless rates for adult men (5.2 percent), adult women (4.9 percent), whites (4.7 percent), blacks (10.4 percent), Asians (4.0 percent), and Hispanics (6.6 percent) showed little or no change.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.7 million in February. These individuals accounted for 31.1 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed is down by 1.1 million.
The civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, changed little in February and has remained within a narrow range of 62.7 to 62.9 percent since April 2014. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 59.3 percent in February but is up by 0.5 percentage point over the year.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in February at 6.6 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.
In February, 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little changed from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Among the marginally attached, there were 732,000 discouraged workers in February, little different from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.4 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in February had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 295,000 in February, compared with an average monthly gain of 266,000 over the prior 12 months. Job gains occurred in food services and drinking places, professional and business services, construction, health care, and in transportation and warehousing. Employment in mining declined over the month.
In February, food services and drinking places added 59,000 jobs. The industry had added an average of 35,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months.
Employment in professional and business services increased by 51,000 in February and has risen by 660,000 over the year. In February, employment continued to trend up in management and technical consulting services (+7,000), computer systems design and related services (+5,000), and architectural and engineering services (+5,000).
Construction added 29,000 jobs in February. Employment in specialty trade contractors rose by 27,000, mostly in the residential component. Over the past 12 months, construction has added 321,000 jobs.
In February, employment in health care rose by 24,000, with gains in ambulatory care services (+20,000) and hospitals (+9,000). Health care had added an average of 29,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months.
Transportation and warehousing added 19,000 jobs in February, with most of the gain occurring in couriers and messengers (+12,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing grew by an average of 14,000 per month over the prior 12 months.
Employment in retail trade continued to trend up in February (+32,000) and has grown by 319,000 over the year.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in February (+8,000). Within the industry, petroleum and coal products lost 6,000 jobs, largely due to a strike.
Employment in mining decreased by 9,000 in February, with most of the decline in support activities for mining (-7,000).
Employment in other major industries, including wholesale trade, information, financial activities, and government, showed little change over the month.
In February, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was 34.6 hours for the fifth month in a row. The manufacturing workweek was unchanged at 41.0 hours in February, and factory overtime edged down by 0.1 hour to 3.4 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours.
In February, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents to $24.78. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.0 percent. In February, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees were unchanged at $20.80.
After revision, the change in total nonfarm payroll employment for December remained at +329,000, and the change for January was revised from +257,000 to +239,000. With these revisions, employment gains in December and January were 18,000 lower than previously reported. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 288,000 per month.
