S&P 500
7,226.20
+0.01%
Dow Jones
49,494.60
-0.62%
Nasdaq 100
27,685.40
+0.66%
Russell 2000
2,804.78
-0.02%
FTSE 100
10,364.50
0.00%
Nikkei 225
59,260.50
-0.78%

Jobs

No Unemployment Bombshells in February

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

The Labor Department has released its Unemployment rate for February.  The official figure kept at 9.7% versus a Dow Jones projection of 9.8%.  The change in non-Farm Payrolls in February was -36,000, a drop that was lower than expectations but slightly higher than a -26,000 figure revision for January.  Estimates were about -75,000 by Dow Jones.

There is a notion that the severe weather in February played a notion in some of the jobs figures. If weather did play a role in February’s data, then the benefits should be seen in March.

Government jobs fell by 18,000 but federal payrolls grew by 7,000.  A figure of 15,000 added temporary Census workers helped out.

As far as hours and wages, wages grew to $18.93 per hour from $18.90 and the average work week fell 0.2 hours to 33.1 hours.  The hourly drop may also be tied to weather.

The market pundits were very mixed on today’s figures and these figures appear to be having very limited market impact so far.

JON C. OGG

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Retirees Are Realizing a $1.5 Million Nest Egg at 60 Only Means $31,000 in Real Annual Spending
Drew Wood |

Retirees Are Realizing a $1.5 Million Nest Egg at 60 Only Means $31,000 in Real Annual Spending
71% of Americans With Financial Advisors Feel Secure. Only 10% Without One Do
David Beren |

71% of Americans With Financial Advisors Feel Secure. Only 10% Without One Do

Continue Reading

Weak Payrolls May Have Issues Ahead Other Than Just Weaker Business Trends
Jon C. Ogg |

Weak Payrolls May Have Issues Ahead Other Than Just Weaker Business Trends

Some reports from the U.S. Department of Labor show stronger than expected monthly payroll gains, while others do not. The…
Douglas A. McIntyre |

Somehow, Some Way, Unemployment 9.7%

Many have said that the math from the US Labor Department is fuzzy, and today will only show further conversations…
March Payrolls Come in Handily Under Expectations
Jon C. Ogg |

March Payrolls Come in Handily Under Expectations

Friday's economic reporting cycle was dominated by the employment situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Strong Payrolls May Be Muted by Wages Contraction
Jon C. Ogg |

Strong Payrolls May Be Muted by Wages Contraction

Nonfarm payrolls rose by some 242,000 in the month of February, more than expected by Bloomberg or Dow Jones.
Jon C. Ogg |

Small Business Hiring So Low It Is Almost Invisible

ThinkstockWhen you see reports of thousands of layoffs, it has to be a stark reminder that this recovery’s continuation likely…
November Payrolls Surge Much More Than Expected
Jon C. Ogg |

November Payrolls Surge Much More Than Expected

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Situation report showed that the economy added 80,000 more nonfarm payrolls than expected…
Are the Markets Braced for Strong Payrolls and Wage Gains on Friday?
Jon C. Ogg |

Are the Markets Braced for Strong Payrolls and Wage Gains on Friday?

Friday morning will bring the Employment Situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This number is perhaps the most…
Jon C. Ogg |

Labor Department Payrolls Bring a Pleasant Surprise

Ed Brown, via Wikimedia CommonsCan weather be to blame for poor jobs numbers for three consecutive months? After two disappointing…
Jon C. Ogg |

Unemployment of 6.6% Skewed Without Extended Unemployment Benefits

The verdict is in. Friday's release from the Department of Labor showed that nonfarm payrolls grew by 113,000. Bloomberg was…

Top Gaining Stocks

Cboe Global Markets
CBOE • Vol: 1,568,143
New Pluto Global
PSKY • Vol: 12,285,993
Seagate Technology
STX • Vol: 7,378,346
Oracle
ORCL • Vol: 26,317,675
Datadog
DDOG • Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ • Vol: 4,367,433
Clorox
CLX • Vol: 13,260,523
Stryker
SYK • Vol: 4,519,455
Mohawk Industries
MHK • Vol: 1,859,865
Amgen
AMGN • Vol: 3,818,618