#89 – Inside Our Industry – February Jobs Report Shows Continued Growth

February Jobs Report Shows Continued Growth

The most recent jobs report from the Department of Labor provided a positive economic outlook in terms of people going to or back to work, with 678,000 new jobs added. The manufacturing sector added 36,000 new workers. As various reports suggested, job growth accelerated in February as falling coronavirus cases brought customers back to businesses and workers back to the office. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent, putting much of the employment economy within striking distance of pre-pandemic conditions.

Manufacturing employment is still down by 1.4 percent compared to the start of the pandemic in February 2020. Most of the growth in manufacturing employment was in durable goods industries despite losses in transportation equipment. Fabricated metal products manufacturers saw the most dramatic growth last month, adding 10,500 new workers. Gains there and in machinery, which took on 8,300 new employees, served to offset the 18,000 jobs lost in motor vehicles and parts manufacturing, which made up the bulk of the approximately 20,700 jobs lost in transportation equipment. Manufacturing currently employs 12.6 million people in the United States. (industryweek.com)

The data was collected in mid-February, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which roiled global financial markets and caused a sharp increase in energy prices. Analysts say the United States is less vulnerable than Europe to the economic effects of the crisis but warn that a prolonged conflict will have global repercussions that are hard to predict. (nytimes.com)

The labor market recovery has overcome every obstacle. Job openings are near a record high. Layoffs are at a new low. And hiring has remained strong in the ebb and flow of successive waves of the pandemic — employers have added at least 400,000 jobs every month since May, the longest such streak on record. (nytimes.com)