The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage point to reach 7.7 percent in February. The unemployment rate has alternated between 7.8 percent and 7.9 percent since September 2012, but February's rate of 7.7 percent is the lowest official rate since December 2008.
The labor force participation rate ticked down 0.1 percentage point to reach 63.5 percent in February. This is the series low for this business cycle, originally reached in August 2012. The labor force participation rate dropped as a result of a net decrease in the labor force of 130,000. Though the number of civilians employed in the labor force grew by 170,000 in February, the number of unemployed also increased by 300,000.
