2018.03.0908:41:00UTC+00U.S. Employment Jumps Much More Than Expected In February

Job growth in the U.S. saw a significant acceleration in the month of February, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, although the report also showed a slowdown in the pace of wage growth.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged up by 313,000 jobs in February after jumping by an upwardly revised 239,000 jobs in January.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 200,000 jobs, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.

Despite the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent in February. The unemployment rate had been expected to dip to 4.0 percent.

The report also said the annual rate of growth in average hourly employee earnings fell to 2.6 percent in February from 2.8 percent in January.