February 2010 Employment Situation — 2010-03-05

Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (-36,000) in February, and the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction and information, while tem- porary help services added jobs. Severe winter weather in parts of the country may have affected payroll employment and hours; however, it is not possible to quantify precisely the net impact of the winter storms on these measures. For more information on the effects of the severe weather on employ- ment estimates, see the box note at the end of the release. In February, the number of unemployed persons, at 14.9 million, was essen- tially unchanged, and the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent. (See table A-1.) Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.0 per- cent), adult women (8.0 percent), whites (8.8 percent), blacks (15.8 percent), Hispanics (12.4 percent), and teenagers (25.0 percent) showed little to no change in February.