More jobs out there; more workers hired

The employment market took a turn for the better in February, as the U.S. produced more than twice the number of jobs compared to January.

Propelled by the private sector, employers added 192,000 net jobs last month, an outcome that matched most economists' expectations, but fell way short of turning around a beleaguered labor market.

The jobless rate ticked down to 8.9 percent, the first time it has been below 9 percent since April 2009. The decline was mostly due to a combination of new hiring and the nearly 90,000 people who left the workforce. Workers who haven't looked for a job in four weeks are no longer counted as unemployed, leading to a jobless rate that is actually lower than reality.

To get back to a healthier 5.5 percent rate, employers will need to start producing 250,000 to 300,000 jobs a month, said Minnesota economist Tom Stinson. If the country reaches that pace, it will take about 30 months to return to what is considered full employment for the country.

"That's a long time," Stinson said. "Forecasters have been saying that this is going to be a long slow climb out of the recession."

February's job gains came mostly in business services, temporary work, health care, manufacturing and construction. It was the third consecutive month of job growth and certainly the largest. Revised December figures showed 152,000 jobs gained, while January produced just 63,000.

Winter storms pounded much of the country during those months, leaving economists to wonder if February's stronger results were merely a product of less disruptive weather. Others expressed concern that the current level of hiring may not be sustainable given the rising fuel prices due to unrest in the Middle East.

"We would like to see even stronger numbers," said Wells Fargo economist Scott Anderson. "Obviously, we need to recreate all the jobs we lost, which is about 8.4 million" since the recession began.

Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said February "is the first month where many of the indicators point positive, and the jobs recovery appears to be gaining traction."

Hiring in many sectors

Business services, manufacturing, health care, construction and transportation were the largest contributors to the February job growth. The service sector added 47,000 jobs during the month, while health care added 34,000. Manufacturing, which has long been on the road to recovery, and the long ailing construction industry each added 33,000 jobs during the month. Transportation added 27,000 jobs.

Retail and state and local governments registered job declines, while most other industries were flat.

"Don't break out the champaign just yet," said University of Maryland economist Peter Morici.

About 13.7 million Americans remain unemployed, with blacks and Hispanics making up a respective 15.3 percent and 11.6 percent of the total. The jobless rate for whites was 8 percent and Asians 6.8 percent.

Another 2.7 million Americans are categorized as "discouraged workers" or "marginally attached to the labor force."

"Counting those who have left the labor force and [those] taking part-time work but would prefer full-time employment, the true unemployment rate remains about 16 percent," Morici said.

On the positive side, layoffs continue to trend downward, hitting 8.3 million in February. That's down by 1.2 million from a year ago. The long-term unemployed -- those laid off for at least 27 weeks -- fell to 5.993 million in February from 6.21 million in January. The number of people forced to work part time because they could not find full-time work fell by 95,000 to 2.4 million.

For these reasons, Hine insisted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics report "is a very strong report. It's a very positive development." Earlier this week, Minnesota reported January unemployment fell to 6.7 percent in January, down from a revised 6.9 percent in December.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725