Nation's unemployment rate stuck at 5.6 percent

WASHINGTON -- U.S. payrolls grew by just 21,000 in February and left the unemployment rate stuck at 5.6 percent.

The news for out-of-work Americans, contained in a jobs snapshot released Friday by the Labor Department, showed a continuation of the slow employment growth the country has been enduring. The net gain in "nonfarm" payrolls -- government and private employers -- fell well short of the 125,000 jobs that economists had been forecasting.

The little growth there was came from the government. Private-sector employment was flat.

"This remains a jobless recovery, pure and simple," said David Rosenberg, chief economist at Merrill Lynch. "Meaningful job creation remains alarmingly elusive."

The report also showed that job creation in December and January was weaker than previously thought. Total payrolls in December grew by just 8,000 and were up by 97,000 in January, according to revised figures.

The overall seasonally adjusted civilian unemployment rate stayed at 5.6 percent in February as 392,000 people left the civilian work force for any number of reasons.

The health of the nation's economy, especially the job climate, is a major issue in this year's presidential race.

The weak job creation comes even as the economy has been growing at a healthy rate. Productivity gains have allowed companies to produce more with fewer people, economists explained.

The economy, after struggling to get back on its feet following the jolt of the 2001 recession and terrorist attacks, finally staged a material rebound in the second half of last year. But for out-of-work Americans, it hasn't felt like better economic times.

There were some 8.2 million people unemployed in February, with the average duration of 20.3 weeks without work.

That marked the highest average duration of joblessness in over 20 years.

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, said Friday's report "underscores the disastrous state of our nation's jobs situation."

In February, manufacturers lost jobs for the 43rd month in a row. Factories cut 3,000 positions last month, but that marked a slower pace than the 13,000 cut in January.

Construction companies lost 24,000 jobs in February as bad winter weather in some parts of the country delayed projects. Leisure and hospitality firms cut 9,000 jobs in February.

Retailers, however, added 13,000 positions in February. Temporary help firms added 32,000 and education and health-care services gained 13,000 jobs last month.

After adding up the job gains and losses, private employment was unchanged in February from January.

The government, meanwhile, added 21,000 positions last month.

Analysts want to see the economy generate around 200,000 or 300,000 net jobs a month on a consistent basis before they declare a recovery in the fragile labor market.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is optimistic that job growth, which has been poking along, will speed up. "We could get a pop in employment at any time," Greenspan said last week.

Fed policy-makers probably won't be in a rush to boost short-term interest rates, which are currently a 45-year low of 1 percent, until the job market picks up, economists said.

Despite the backdrop of the sluggish job market, consumer confidence rebounded in early March as Americans felt better about their current financial situations as well as the economy's prospects in the months ahead, according to an AP-Ipsos index of consumer attitudes.