America's economy added 235,000 jobs in February — and the unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent

(Image credit: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

published 10 March 2017

The U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in February, according to government data released Friday, beating economists' expectations in the first full month of the Trump presidency. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent in January, and wages rose by 6 cents to $26.09, rebounding from a disappointing 3-cent rise in January. Stock futures rose early Friday in anticipation of a strong government jobs report after a separate survey published earlier in the week by ADP and Moody's Analytics showed hiring blasting past forecasts. The gains were expected to strengthen the argument that the economy is strong enough for Federal Reserve policy makers to raise interest rates when they meet next week.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.