By Tom Burnett CFA
On March 5, 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its Employment Report for the February month. Job growth was very strong as total employment increased by 379,000 to 150.0 million. The unemployment rate remained at 6.2% from the prior month. The number of unemployed workers equaled 10 million, compared with only 5.7 million a year ago—before the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak was felt. Essentially, the total employment figure of 159 million in February 2020 was reduced to 133 million last summer during the economic lockdowns that the pandemic forced on to the US economy. Job growth since last summer has now made back more than 65% of the maximum job losses.
Revisions to the December and January data resulted in a net positive adjustment of 38,000 jobs to the previous totals.
The next Employment Report will be issued on April 2, 2021.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research.