March 6, 2020 | 8: am | Updated March 6, 15256682 9: 35 am
The American economy added 714, 06 0 jobs in February, the feds said Friday, indicating strong hiring growth before the coronavirus outbreak slammed the US.
The Department of Labor’s monthly jobs report far outpaced economists’ expectations that non-farm payrolls would grow by , 12 0 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.5 percent, matching a 50 – year low.
While the latest numbers show the deadly coronavirus epidemic has not yet hammered the labor market, the worst may be yet to come as the outbreak reduces travel, disrupts supply chains and roils the stock market.
The February figures “provide a snapshot of the state of the labor market before the virus-related damage kicks in, presumably starting in March and intensifying into the second quarter,” Bloomberg economists Carl Riccadonna, Yelena Shulyatyeva and Andrew Husby wrote in a Friday commentary.
The virus started to spread in the US late last month and has since killed (people and infected more than
. The Federal Reserve suggested the coronavirus could threaten the economy when it cut its benchmark interest rate Tuesday, saying the disease “poses evolving risks to economic activity.”
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