Post by bot on Mar 7, 2014 23:31:13 GMT -5
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. added 175,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate rose to 6.7% from 6.6%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected an increase of 140,000 nonfarm jobs as bad weather was expected to dampen hiring. The unemployment rate edged up because more people entered the labor force in search of jobs but not all of them found one. In February, hiring was strongest in professional services, education, and bars and restaurants. Retailers and information-service companies cut jobs. Average hourly wages, meanwhile, increased 9 cents to $24.31, but the average workweek fell by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours in a negative sign. The civilian participation rate was unchanged at 63.0%. Employment gains for January and December, meanwhile, were revised up by a combined 25,000. The number of new jobs created in January was raised to 129,000 from 113,000, while December's figure was upped to 84,000 from 75,000.
