WASHINGTON — U.S. employers went on a hiring binge in February, adding 313,000 jobs, the most in any month since July 2016, and drawing hundreds of thousands of people into the job market.
At the same time, average wages rose 2.6 percent over the past 12 months, a slowdown from January's accelerated pace, which had spooked investors because it raised fears of high inflation. Friday's jobs report from the government revised down January's year-over-year wage gain by one-tenth of a point to 2.8 percent.
An influx of new job seekers in February kept the unemployment rate unchanged at a low 4.1 percent.
February's hiring surge points to a U.S. job market that remains robust, and might even be strengthening. Job growth has averaged 242,000 over the past three months, above 2017's monthly pace of 187,000. The broader economy is also showing unusual resilience: Its expansion since the Great Recession ended nearly nine years ago is the third-longest on record.
In addition, the Trump administration's tax cuts appear to have lifted optimism among consumers and businesses. U.S. employers have also benefited from a strengthened global economy.
Investors celebrated February's burst of hiring, sending the Dows Jones industrial average up more than 200 points in midmorning trading Friday.
The picture cast by Friday's jobs report offered a mixed one for the Federal Reserve, which is seeking to raise short-term interest rates at just the right pace: Enough to forestall inflation but not so fast as to slow economic growth.
The Fed is considered certain to raise rates when it next meets in two weeks. The question is whether it will do so a total of three times this year — or, in light of the job market's strength and the prospect of a pickup inflation ahead, four times.
"The February jobs report was as good as it gets," Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae, said. "For the Federal Reserve, the report should help soothe concerns over an overheating economy."
Hiring was solid across a wide range of industries in February, including higher-paying sectors such as construction, which added 61,000 jobs, the most since 2007, before the Great Recession began. Retailers added 50,000, the most in two years. Financial services gained 28,000, the biggest increase since 2005.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.