US non-farm payrolls employment grew 379k in February, well above expectation of 148k. Prior month’s figure was also revised sharply up from 49k to 166k. Overall, total non-farm payroll employment was still down by -9.5m or -6.2% from pre pandemic level in February 2020.
Unemployment rate dropped to 6.2%, down from 6.3%, better than expectation of 6.4%. average hourly earnings rose 0.2% mom, matched expectations. Labor force participation rate remained at 61.4%.