Nonfarm Payroll Employment Grows in February

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that in February, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 38 states and the District of Columbia, but decreased in 11 states, when compared to the previous month. Nationwide, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 273,000 over the month of February, following a revised increase of 273,000 jobs in January. Year-over-year (YoY), total nonfarm employment increased by 2.4 million jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis (SA), or 1.6% from February 2019 to February 2020. YoY, the U.S added 223,000 construction sector jobs, which is a 3.0% increase compared to February 2019. These numbers clearly do not reflect the current nonfarm payroll employment downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.