Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2007-03-09

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 continued to trend up in February, and the unemployment rate, at 4.5 percent, was essentially unchanged from January. Payroll employment was up by 97,000 over the month, following gains of 226,000 in December and 146,000 in January, as revised. Over the year ending in February, payroll employment grew by 2 million. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.4 percent, over the month. In the service-providing sector, health care employment continued to expand, increasing by 33,000 in February. Health care accounted for about one in six jobs added to payrolls in the past 12 months. Food services employment also continued its upward trend, rising by 21,000 in February. Employment in the information industry, which includes publishing, broadcasting, motion pictures, and telecommunications, increased by 13,000.