Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2019-03-08

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Nonfarm payroll employment changed little in February (+20,000), and the unemployment rate decreased to 3.8 percent. Employment continued to trend up in professional and business services, health care, and wholesale trade but declined in construction. Incorporating revisions for December and January, which increased nonfarm payroll employment by 12,000, monthly job gains averaged 186,000 over the past 3 months. Employment continued to trend up in professional and business services in February (+42,000), in line with average monthly growth over the prior 12 months. Health care added 21,000 jobs in February. Over the past year, health care employment rose by 361,000. Employment in wholesale trade continued to trend up in February (+11,000). Over the year, the industry has added 95,000 jobs.