The U.S. economy added 311,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The gains were well above the consensus estimates of around 200,000 new jobs, in another sign that the labor market is stronger than many expected given recent Federal Reserve rate hikes. In January, the U.S. added a whopping half a million jobs, despite expectations of a sizable slow down in hires.
What sectors are driving the gains? Leisure and hospitality, once again leading the charge, added 105,000 jobs, with food services and drinking places adding the lion's share.
Retail, meanwhile, added 50,000 jobs, with general merchandise stores contributing the bulk, and government employment increased 46,000 in February.
On the losing side, the information industry shed 25,000 jobs, and transportation and warehousing lost 22,000 jobs — the second large drop for the sector since the beginning of the year.
A majority of Americans support higher pay for auto workers who are on strike against Detroit's Big Three carmakers, although approval of the workers' other demands is more mixed, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The ongoing United Auto Workers strike expanded Thursday in a major blow to Ford as the union ordered 8700 workers to walk off the job at the automaker giant's largest plant.
A retired bank official testified that former president Donald Trump obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in loans based on financial statements that have since been deemed fraudulent.
