WASHINGTON — New government data released Friday morning showed that the U.S. added a strong 242,000 jobs in February, a sign of the nation’s economic durability amid a tumultuous global slowdown.
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent, the lowest mark during the seven-year recovery from the Great Recession.
Economists had expected that the United States would add 191,000 jobs last month.
That sustained pace suggests that strong hiring has become a reliable part of the economy, even as the U.S. faces headwinds from weakening currencies abroad and a slowdown in China.
Economists also are closely watching to see whether wages begin to pick up. In recent months, they’ve seen signs that employers are beginning to compete more aggressively for workers and raising pay as a result. If that trend intensifies, it would help lift the country from a prolonged period of wage stagnation that has, for many Americans, made the recovery feel unsatisfying.