Hiring tumbles as U.S. employers add just 20,000 jobs; unemployment rate falls to 3.8 per cent GlobeBusiness
U.S. job growth almost stalled in February, with the economy creating only 20,000 jobs as construction and retail payrolls dropped, which could raise concerns about a sharp slowdown in economic activity.
“The sharp slowdown in payroll employment growth in February provides further evidence that economic growth has slowed in the first quarter,” said Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics in New York. “That adds weight to our view that the Fed will not be raising interest rates this year.”
About 390,000 workers stayed at home in February because of the bad weather, not much different from previous years. The length of the average workweek fell to 34.4 hours from 34.5 hours in January. A broader measure of unemployment, which includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment, dropped to 7.3 per cent after hitting an 11-month high of 8.1 per cent in January because of the government shutdown.
Economists say employers have kept hiring at a strong pace despite low unemployment as more people returned to the labour force, including students, women and people who had dropped out to collect disability benefits. They, however, say that source of labour supply is dwindling.The labour force participation rate, or the proportion of working-age Americans who have a job or are looking for one, was unchanged last month at more than a five-year high of 63.2 per cent.
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