Unemployment rate falls slightly as U.S. adds 273,000 jobs in February


America's coronavirus outbreak hasn't hurt its job market just yet.
The U.S. economy beat expectations to add 273,000 jobs in February, even as COVID-19 raised concerns of an economic slowdown. The stock market saw a massive decline at the end of the month, but the unemployment rate still fell slightly from 3.6 to 3.5 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.
That unemployment rate is the lowest the U.S. has seen in 50 years, CNBC notes. But including people not looking for work and those with part-time jobs looking for full-time grew a bit to 7 percent. The health care, restaurant, and construction industries, as well as government hiring, boosted the job gains.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
February may mark the last glimpse of a growing economy for awhile, seeing as most of the month wasn't spent in the grips of COVID-19 fear. The Federal Reserve Board had recently taken emergency action to calm the economy, but it didn't stop the stock market from zig-zagging throughout the past week.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display
Speed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices