but was, in the eyes of some observers, boosted by seasonal factors and warm weather.
Revisions released Friday showed there were 504,000 jobs created in the first month of the year, a mere 13,000 fewer than previously reported. Monthly job gains over the last six months have now averaged 343,000. "The moderation in job growth in February confirms that job gains in January were inflated by unusually warm weather and seasonal adjustment quirks," said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, in a note to clients on Friday. "However, the pace of job growth is surely still too rapid for the Fed's liking and won't stand in the way of the Fed continuing to push interest rates higher.
By industry, Friday's jobs report showed hiring remains particularly robust in the leisure & hospitality sector, as well as for retail, health care, and government jobs.There were 105,000 new jobs added to the leisure & hospitality sector in February, the most of any industry. These job gains were slightly higher than the 91,000 jobs created in this industry over the last six months, on average. Employment in this sector still remains 2.
Economists and strategists were also closely watching wages ahead of Friday's report, with average hourly earnings rising 4.6% over the prior year in February, an increase from the 4.4% jump seen in January but slightly below forecasts for a 4.7% uptick in wages on an annual basis.