US Nonfarm Payrolls rise by 311,000 in February

The data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed on Friday that Nonfarm Payrolls rose by 311,000 in February. This reading came in much higher than the market expectation of 205,000 and followed January’s print of 504,000 (revised from 517,000).

Further details of the jobs report showed that the Labor Force Participation Rate improved modestly to 62.5% from 62.4% in January. Additionally, the Unemployment Rate rose to 3.6% and the annual wage inflation, as measured by the Average Hourly Earnings, increased to 4.6% from 4.4%.