U.S. adds 192,000 jobs in February

marketwatch.com

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Job growth accelerated in February and the unemployment rate fell for the third straight month, the Labor Department said Friday. Total nonfarm payrolls increased by 192,000 in February. This was slightly lower than the 218,000 gain expected by Wall Street economists. The unemployment rate ticked lower to 8.9% in February from 9.0% in the previous month. Economists forecast the unemployment rate to rise to 9.1%. Job growth in December and January was revised higher by 58,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings held steady at $22.87. Earnings are up 1.7% in the past year. The average workweek was unchanged at 34.2 hours.
source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feb-nonfarm-payroll-up-192000-job-rate-89-2011-03-04


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Ohio unemployment rate drops to 9.6%

Ohio’s unemployment rate finished the year with its ninth consecutive decline in December as a drop in payroll was outpaced by a larger fall in job-seekers.
The state Department of Job and Family Services said Friday that Ohio’s jobless rate hit a seasonally adjusted 9.6 percent in December. That’s down from 9.8 percent in November and more than a percentage point below the 10.8 percent jobless rate seen a year ago.
Over the month, nonfarm payroll dropped by more than 9,000 jobs to hit 5 million workers. That’s largely on a 7,300-job decline in Ohio’s goods-producing sector, which saw declines in construction and manufacturing. The much-larger service sector only lost 1,300 jobs over the month.
The ranks of those unemployed and actively seeking work, meanwhile, fell by 13,000 to hit 567,000, marking the lowest number of unemployed Ohioans in nearly two years.
County and city-level unemployment data are set to be released Tuesday. January statistics will be released March 4.
source : http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2011/01/22/ohio-unemployment-rate-drops-to-96.html

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