Employment Picture Continues To Improve

Washington, DC, March 9, 2012 -- Employers created 227,000 jobs in February and more people found work in the prior two months than previously reported, according to the Labor Department.

The unemployment rate, however, remaimed at 8.3% as nearly half-a-million workers reentered the labor force in search of job.

The increase in nonfarm jobs topped 200,000 for the third straight month, which reinforces the view of an economy gathering strength as 2012 unfolds.

Economists had predicted an increase of 213,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, with unemployment holding steady at 8.3%.

Job gains for January were revised up to 284,000 from 243,000 — the best month of job growth in six years — and net hiring in December was revised up to 223,000 from 203,000.