U.S. Economy Loses Steam, Adding Only 20,000 Jobs Last Month

Updated at 9:30 a.m. ET

The U.S. economy added only 20,000 jobs — far fewer than expected — last month, the Labor Department said Friday. But the unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent from January's 4 percent, and earnings growth picked up.

The increase in jobs was below the 180,000 projected by private analysts and the smallest gain since September 2017. February's increase was dramatically smaller than January's revised gain of 311,000 and December's revised 227,000.

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Average earnings in February were 3.4 percent higher than a year earlier, growing to $27.66 per hour. That's a noticeable pickup from January's year-over-year gain of 3.1 percent. Economists have been looking for signs that wages are growing more given the low unemployment rate and employers finding it difficult to fill positions.

The drop in the unemployment rate to 3.8 percent in part reflected the return of federal workers who were furloughed in January because of the partial government shutdown, the Labor Department said.

Construction jobs fell by 31,000 last month, reversing January's 53,000 gain. Manufacturing added just 4,000 jobs — far fewer than the 21,000 in January. Retail lost more than 6,000 jobs, and transportation and warehousing fell 3,000.

Leisure and hospitality jobs were unchanged after growing a combined 154,000 in the prior two months. But professional and business services added 42,000 jobs in February, and health care grew by 21,000. [Copyright 2019 NPR]