The February Jobs Report in 13 Charts

U.S. employers hired workers at the strongest pace in a year and a half in February, adding 313,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate held at a 17-year low of 4.1%

Despite a strong month of job growth in February, over the past year the number of jobs has grown about 1.6%, a pace that has been slowing in recent years.

The main unemployment rate, and alternate measures of unemployment, were all unchanged last month. The alternate measures are calculated by including marginally attached and discouraged workers who have given up hunting for work, as well as part-time workers who want full-time employment.

Hourly wage growth was down slightly last month, but weekly wage growth rose. The pace of wage growth has yet to break out above 3%, while the inflation rate has been running slightly above 2%,

The share of Americans who are employed climbed to 60.4% last month from 60.1% in January, and the number in the labor force (that is, the number who are either working or actively looking for work) climbed to 63% from 62.7%. After a slight decline in recent months, both rates are now at their highest reading since the fall.

Among workers ages 25 to 54, when retirement and education do not keep people out of the labor force, participation rates climbed to their highest level in years. The share of 25- to 54-year olds who are employed climbed to 79.3%, the best since 2008, while the labor-force participation rate of this age group climbed to 82.2%, the highest since 2010.

Unemployment rates have been trending lower for workers of different races and genders in recent years.

In December, the unemployment rate for black workers reached its lowest record on level, but in January the rate increased. The rate fell again last month, but remains slightly above that record low.

Unemployment gaps persist among workers with different levels of education. Rates have been trending lower for all education groups in recent years.

Professional and business services, as well as health care, have continued to be the biggest source of job creation.

Wage gains have not been even across industries. The finance and information industries saw wage growth above 4% over the past year, while industries such as wholesale trade and manufacturing have seen wage growth lag the national average.

The president’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum has focused special attention on the metals industry, including the primary metals manufacturers who are likely to benefit from the tariff, and industries that consume the metal, which are likely to face pressure from higher costs.

The reason that workers have been unemployed has shifted in recent years, with fewer and fewer people unemployed after a permanent layoff.

The median duration of unemployment has been falling, but spells of unemployment remain longer than in the late 1990s or in the mid-2000s.

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from Real Time Economics http://ift.tt/2Idr8qA