THE FEBRUARY EMPLOYMENT SITUATION
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine NolanAlthough the recent sequester brings with it much uncertainty, the employment front showed some positive results as the White House released their employment statement for the month of February.
Private sector businesses added 246,000 jobs in February. Non-farm payroll employment rose by 236,000 jobs. Over the last 3 years, 6.35 million jobs have been added in the private sector.
The reference period for the surveys was the week of February 10th-16th for the household survey and the pay period containing February 12th for the establishment survey, the period before the beginning of the sequester. Congress must continue to move in a direction towards sensible spending cuts, tax loophole closings and making critical investments in the economy that promotes growth and job creations.
February employment rose most evidently in professional and business services (+73,000), construction (+48,000), health care (+32,000), leisure and hospitality (+24,000), and retail trade (+23,700). Manufacturing gained 14,000 jobs in February. The manufacturing sector has added over a half a million jobs over the last 37 months, marking a record for any such period since 1986. In the last two years, the construction sector has added 306,000 jobs, with half of that increase occurring in just the last five months. State and local governments lost 10,000 jobs in February, mostly in the education sector. The local government education sector has now lost 340,700 jobs since its recent peak in November of 2009.
This is an area that encounters volatile change from month to month so we must watch and keep abreast of the results as they are reported. However, we are headed in the right direction and must stay on the path to recovery.
STATEMENT RELEASED BY Alan B. Krueger, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
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