One chart shows where the jobs will be in February 2024.

One chart shows where the jobs will be in February 2024.
One chart shows where the jobs will be in February 2024.
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest hiring gains of 90,700 jobs were in the health care and social assistance sectors.
  • Leisure and hospitality also saw robust growth, adding 58,000 jobs.
‘Squawk on the Street’ crew react to February jobs report

In February, the U.S. labor market exhibited ongoing robustness, with a broad job creation of 275,000, and one sector driving the growth.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the health care and social assistance sector experienced the largest job growth of 90,700 jobs. This was due to the sharp increase in hospital and ambulatory health-care services, which added 28,000 and 27,700 jobs, respectively.

The leisure and hospitality industry experienced significant growth, resulting in the addition of 58,000 jobs. The BLS emphasized that job gains in food services and drinking places were particularly notable, with an increase of approximately 42,000 jobs in February after three months of minimal change.

The number of jobs in transportation and warehousing increased by 19,700, while couriers and messengers experienced a 17,000 job growth after a 70,000 job decline in the previous three months.

The broader manufacturing sector experienced a decline of 4,000 jobs, with transportation equipment and computer and electronics manufacturing leading the way with losses of 1,900 and 1,700, respectively.

The positive spot in the report was the year-over-year wage growth number, as stated by Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

While the strong wage growth number is good news for workers, it may not necessarily be bad news for employers or inflation because productivity growth has been so strong, making it sustainable.

Despite heavy federal investment in manufacturing, the continued decline in employment in the sector remains a mystery, according to Pollak.

Despite the huge rally in the stock market, declines in tech-related sub-industries such as software publishers, computer systems, and other groups suggest that the "tech-session" is not yet over, according to Pollak.

by Hakyung Kim

Markets