Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2011-03-04

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. In February, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 192,000, and private-sector employment increased by 222,000. The unemployment rate was little changed at 8.9 percent, following large declines in December and January. From its recent low point in February 2010, payroll employment has increased by 1.3 million, or an average of 106,000 per month. Over the same period, private- sector employment rose by 1.5 million, or an average of 127,000 per month. In February, job growth occurred in manufacturing, construction, professional and business services, health care, and transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing employment continued to rise (+33,000) in February. Since its recent low in December 2009, manufacturing has added 195,000 jobs. Almost all of the February gain was in durable goods, most notably in fabricated metal products (+7,000) and machinery (+9,000).