2020.03.0612:41:00UTC+00U.S. Employment Spikes Much More Than Expected In February

Employment in the U.S. soared by much more than expected in the month of February, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said employment surged up by 273,000 jobs in February, matching the upwardly revised spike in January.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 175,000 jobs compared to the jump of 225,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

With the much stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged down to 3.5 percent in February from 3.6 percent in January. The rate had been expected to remain unchanged.