U.S. hiring jumped to a nine-year high in February, a sign of robust business demand for new workers, while the number of open positions slipped, the Associated Press reports.
The Labor Department says 5.4 million people found jobs, a 5.8% jump from January and the most since November 2006. More Americans also quit their jobs. Both figures point to a healthier, more dynamic labor market.
Businesses have been reluctant to accelerate hiring for much of the nearly seven-year recovery. But the raw hiring numbers have now returned to pre-recession levels. That suggests businesses are more confident about the economy’s future.
Tuesday’s figures track total hiring. The monthly jobs report released last week calculates a net total of job gains after subtracting those who quit, retired or were laid off.
The latest jobs report showed that employers added a solid 215,000 positions in March, while the unemployment rate rose to 5% from 4.9%. Yet the increase in the rate occurred mostly for positive reasons: more Americans began hunting for jobs, though not all were immediately hired. That pushed up the number of unemployed, despite the job gain.
Employers are adding jobs at a steady clip, even as the economy has shown some signs of slowing. Americans barely increased their spending in February for the third month in a row, holding back growth and pointing to ongoing caution despite the job gains.
Many analysts now expect the economy will expand at just a 1% annual rate or less in the first three months of this year, after a tepid 1.4%increase in last year’s fourth quarter.
