WASHINGTON — America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in February, adding a surprising 275,000 jobs and again showcasing the U.S. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates.
The February figures will likely make Fed officials more comfortable about cutting rates sometime in the coming months. With December and January job gains revised sharply down, wage growth easing and the unemployment rate up, the Fed's policymakers aren't likely to worry about an overheating economy. Most economists and Wall Street traders expect the first rate cut to come in June. The Fed stopped raising rates in July and has signaled that it envisions three rate cuts this year.
Faucher said he expects average monthly job growth to decelerate to around 150,000 and for the unemployment rate to rise to slightly above 4% by year's end. A cooling labor market, he suggested, will allow the Fed to start cutting rates this spring. Hana Haseman, the human resources manager for Active Learning Centers, a chain of childcare facilities in the Allentown region, needs to fill about 10 full-time openings. The company increased wages a few years ago to as high as $20 an hour. But Haseman said raising pay is only part of the challenge.
“It was a great time to be looking for jobs,’’ she said. “The culture of employers had begun shifting’’ as younger workers who replaced retiring baby boomers demanded more flexible working conditions, including the option to work from home.