U.S. unemployment at 6.7% in February
The national unemployment rate was 6.7 percent last month, bouncing up slightly from 6.6 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today.
The number of people unemployed for at least 27 weeks rose 203,000 to 3.8 million, but was down 901,000 from February 2013.
That fell short of analyst expectations of 6.6 percent, as the country added 175,000 jobs in professional and business services, and wholesale trade. Over the past year, average growth across all sectors was 189,000 jobs per month.
According to the BLS, the biggest gains were in professional and business services (79,000) and food services and drinking places (21,000). Wholesale trade and construction each added 15,000 jobs. For the third consecutive month, there was little change in health care, with 10,000 jobs added.
Meanwhile, information lost 16,000 jobs, with most of the positions in motion picture and sound recording. Manufacturing, transportation and warehousing were among those industries where employment changed little over the month.
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