The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in February, 236,000 new payrolls were added across the U.S.

Professional and business services was the sector with the most hiring momentum in February over the past month; the sector was up 73,000 payrolls for the month.

Employment in goods-producing industries, up 67,000 for the month, was led by construction (up 48,000); manufacturers added 14,000 payrolls in February. Payrolls at mines rose by 5,000.

The leisure and hospitality sector and the retail sector both added 24,000 payrolls in February.

Contributions to Change in Nonfarm Payroll Employment, thousands, SA

Additional detail:

  • Payrolls for December were revised up from 196,000 to 219,000, but January's payrolls were revised down from 157,000 to 119,000, resulting in a net downward revision of 15,000 for the two previous months of data.
  • Despite the negative payroll revisions for the two prior months of data (December 2012 and January 2013), the rate of payroll growth is rising. Compared with 2012's average monthly growth of roughly 183,000, the last three months (December 2012 through February 2013) have averaged 195,000 per month.