U.S. Unemployment Rate Declines on Higher Jobs Rise

The unemployment rate in the United States declined to 6.2% from 6.3% in January, data by the U.S. Department of Labor showed on Friday.

Last month, the American economy added the biggest number of jobs in four months, amid the recovery from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and the rollout of vaccines, which helped ease preventive measures and restriction as the number of new cases declined.

Data showed that non-farm payrolls increased by 379,000, exceeding market expectations of 200,000 new jobs, following revised increase of 166,000 jobs in January.

Average hourly earnings increased by 0.2% on a monthly basis, and by 5.3% on an annual basis.

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate remained steady at 61.4%.