The US economy added
273 thousand jobs in February of 2020, the most since May 2018, compared to an
upwardly revised 273 thousand in January and market expectations of 175
thousand. In February, biggest job gains occurred in health care and social
assistance, food services and drinking places, government, construction,
professional and technical services, and financial activities. The change in
total nonfarm payroll employment for December was revised up by 37,000 from
+147,000 to +184,000, and the change for January was revised up by 48,000 from
+225,000 to +273,000. With these revisions, employment gains in December and
January combined were 85,000 higher than previously reported.