Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2018-03-09

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 increased by 313,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent. Job gains occurred in construction, retail trade, professional and business services, manufacturing, financial activities, and mining. Incorporating revisions for December and January, which increased nonfarm payroll employment by 54,000, monthly job gains have averaged 242,000 over the past 3 months. Construction employment increased by 61,000 in February and has grown by 185,000 over the past 4 months. Job growth in February occurred among specialty trade contractors (+38,000) and in construction of buildings (+16,000), with these increases split about evenly between the residential and nonresidential components. In February, retail trade employment rose by 50,000. Within the industry, employment increased in general merchandise stores (+18,000) and clothing stores (+15,000).