Payroll employment rises by 275,000 in February; unemployment rate increases to 3.9%

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 275,000 in February, and the unemployment rate
increased to 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains
occurred in health care, in government, in food services and drinking places, in social
assistance, and in transportation and warehousing.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey
measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics.
The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry.
For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two
surveys, see the Technical Note.

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 3.9 percent in February, and the
number of unemployed people increased by 334,000 to 6.5 million. A year earlier, the
jobless rate was 3.6 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 6.0 million. (See
table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (3.5 percent) and
teenagers (12.5 percent) increased over the month. The jobless rates for adult men (3.5
percent), Whites (3.4 percent), Blacks (5.6 percent), Asians (3.4 percent), and
Hispanics (5.0 percent) showed little or no change in February. (See tables A-1, A-2,
and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers increased by 174,000 to 1.7
million in February. The number of people on temporary layoff was little changed at
827,000. (See table A-11.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 1.2 million,
was little changed in February. The long-term unemployed accounted for 18.7 percent of
all unemployed people. (See table A-12.)

In February, the labor force participation rate was 62.5 percent for the third consecutive
month, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at 60.1 percent. These
measures showed little or no change over the year. (See table A-1.)

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.4 million, changed
little in February. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment,
were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find
full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)

In February, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at
5.7 million, was little changed. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because
they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were
unavailable to take a job. (See table A-1.)

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally
attached to the labor force changed little at 1.6 million in February. These individuals
wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12
months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of
discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were
available for them, was little changed at 425,000 in February.