The Employment Situation: February 1999 — 1999-03-05

Payroll employment rose in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 275,000; large gains occurred in construction and retail trade, while manufacturing had a substantial decline. Both the number of unemployed persons, 6.1 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.4 percent, were essentially unchanged in February, after seasonal adjustment. The jobless rate has remained within a narrow range of 4.3 to 4.5 percent since last April. The unemployment rate for adult men rose in February to 3.7 percent. Jobless rates for other major demographic groups--adult women (3.8 percent), teenagers (14.1 percent), whites (3.8 percent), blacks (8.3 percent), and Hispanics (6.7 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.) Total employment was little changed in February, at 133.1 million, after seasonal adjustment.