Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) March 5, 2021.

Statement of 

William W. Beach 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, March 5, 2021

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 379,000 in February, and 

the unemployment rate was little changed at 6.2 percent. The 

labor market continued to reflect the impact of the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) pandemic. Employment rose sharply in leisure and 

hospitality. Notable job gains also occurred in temporary help 

services, health care and social assistance, retail trade, and

manufacturing. State and local government education, 

construction, and mining lost jobs over the month. 

Substantial job losses related to the coronavirus pandemic 

first occurred in March (-1.7 million) and April (-20.7 million) 

of 2020. As economic activity resumed, employment increased by 

12.6 million from May through November but declined again in 

December (-306,000) following a surge in the number of 

coronavirus cases. Nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 

545,000 over the past 2 months but is down by 9.5 million, or 

6.2 percent, from a year ago.
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Leisure and hospitality gained 355,000 jobs in February, as 

pandemic-related restrictions eased in some parts of the 

country. This followed job losses of 523,000 in December and 

January combined. Within the industry, job growth in food 

services and drinking places (+286,000) accounted for about 

four-fifths of the February increase. Employment also rose in 

accommodation (+36,000) and in amusements, gambling, and 

recreation (+33,000). Employment in leisure and hospitality is 

down by 3.5 million, or 20.4 percent, from a year ago. 

Within professional and business services, employment 

increased by 53,000 in temporary help services in February but

is 175,000 lower than a year ago. 

In February, employment in health care and social 

assistance rose by 46,000. Social assistance added 26,000 jobs 

over the month, with most of the gain in individual and family 

services (+18,000). Employment in social assistance is 331,000 

lower than a year ago. Health care employment changed little in 

February (+20,000), following a large decline in the prior month 

(-85,000). In February, ambulatory health care services added 

29,000 jobs, while nursing care facilities continued to lose 

jobs (-12,000). Health care employment is 578,000 lower than a 

year earlier.
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Retail trade employment rose by 41,000 in February. Job 

gains in the industry were widespread, with the largest gains 

occurring in general merchandise stores (+14,000), health and 

personal care stores (+12,000), and food and beverage stores 

(+10,000). These gains were partially offset by an employment 

decline in clothing and accessories stores (-20,000). Following 

steep job losses in March and April of 2020 (-2.4 million jobs 

over the 2 months combined), retail trade has added 2.0 million 

jobs from May through February. 

Employment in manufacturing rose by 21,000 over the month, 

with about half of the job gain occurring in transportation 

equipment (+10,000). Manufacturing employment is down by 561,000 

over the year.

In February, employment declined in both local government 

education (-37,000) and state government education (-32,000). 

These declines partially offset increases in January. Private 

education employment was little changed over the month (-2,000). 

Pandemic-related employment declines in 2020 distorted the 

normal seasonal buildup and layoff patterns in the education 

sector, making it more challenging to discern the current 

employment trends in these industries. However, employment is 

down over the year in local government education (-674,000), 

state government education (-327,000), and private education 

(-390,000).
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Construction employment decreased by 61,000 in February, 

with job losses in nonresidential specialty trade contractors 

(-37,000) and in heavy and civil engineering construction 

(-21,000). Severe winter weather across much of the country may 

have held down employment and hours in the construction 

industry. Employment in construction is down by 308,000 over the 

year.

In February, mining shed 8,000 jobs, with losses occurring 

in support activities for mining (-6,000) and in oil and gas 

extraction (-2,000). Mining employment is down by 153,000 since 

an employment peak in January 2019, though nearly two-thirds of 

the decline has occurred over the past 12 months.

Employment in other major industries--including wholesale 

trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial 

activities, and other services--showed little change over the 

month. 

Average weekly hours for all private-sector workers 

decreased by 0.3 hour in February to 34.6 hours. The average 

workweek for manufacturing decreased by 0.2 hour to 40.2 hours.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 7 cents to $30.01 in February. One should 

continue to use caution when interpreting changes in average 

hourly earnings during the pandemic, as large shifts in the 
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industry composition of employment can complicate monthly 

comparisons. 

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, both the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed 

people changed little in February, at 6.2 percent and 10.0 

million, respectively. Both measures have fallen from their 

recent peaks in April 2020 but remain well above their February 

2020 levels (at 3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively). 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate 

decreased in February for Asians (5.1 percent). The jobless 

rates for adult men (6.0 percent), adult women (5.9 percent), 

teenagers (13.9 percent), Whites (5.6 percent), Blacks (9.9 

percent), and Hispanics (8.5 percent) showed little or no 

change.

Among the unemployed, the number of people on temporary 

layoff decreased to 2.2 million in February. This measure is 

down considerably from the high of 18.0 million in April but is 

1.5 million higher than a year ago. At 3.5 million, the number 

of permanent job losers was essentially unchanged in February 

but is up by 2.2 million over the year. 

By duration of unemployment, the number of people searching 

for work for less than 5 weeks was little changed in February at 

2.2 million. The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or 

more (often referred to as the long-term unemployed), at 4.1 
6

million, was little changed over the month but is up by 3.0

million over the year. In February, the long-term unemployed 

accounted for 41.5 percent of the unemployed. 

The labor force participation rate, at 61.4 percent, was 

unchanged over the month but is down by 1.9 percentage points 

over the year. The employment-population ratio, at 57.6 percent, 

changed little in February but is down by 3.5 percentage points 

over the year.

In February, 6.1 million people were working part time for 

economic reasons, little changed from the previous month. The 

number of people affected by this type of underemployment is 1.7 

million higher than a year ago.

At 6.9 million, the number of people not in the labor force 

who currently want a job changed little in February. Among those 

who were not in the labor force but wanted a job, the number of 

people marginally attached to the labor force was little changed 

at 1.9 million. (People who are marginally attached to the labor 

force had not actively looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to 

the survey but had looked for a job within the last 12 months.) 

The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally 

attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, was 

little changed over the month at 522,000.

As in previous months, some workers affected by the 

pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on 
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temporary layoff in February were instead misclassified as 

employed but not at work. Since March 2020, BLS has published an 

estimate of what the unemployment rate would have been had 

misclassified workers been included among the unemployed. 

Repeating this same approach, the seasonally adjusted February

unemployment rate would have been 0.5 percentage point higher 

than reported. Additional information about the 

misclassification, as well as information about response rates 

for both the household and establishment surveys, is available 

on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situationcovid19-faq-february-2021.htm.

Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 

household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked in 

February because of the coronavirus pandemic declined to 22.7

percent. These data refer only to employed people who teleworked 

or worked at home for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks 

specifically because of the pandemic; they do not include all 

instances of telework.

In February, the number of people who reported that they 

had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 

business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all 

or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to 

the pandemic--decreased to 13.3 million. Among those who 
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reported in February that they were unable to work because of 

pandemic-related closures or lost business, 10.5 percent 

received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not 

worked, down from 12.7 percent in January.

Among those not in the labor force in February, 4.2 million 

people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, 

down from 4.7 million in January. (To be counted as unemployed, 

by definition, individuals must either be actively searching for 

work or on temporary layoff.) 

As noted earlier, severe winter weather occurred in much of 

the country in February, likely impacting some industries. Data

from the survey of households showed that the number of employed 

people who missed work due to bad weather for all or part of the 

calendar week including the 12th was elevated compared to a 

typical February. Information on how weather can affect data on 

employment and hours can be found in Question 8 in the 

Frequently Asked Questions section of our news release and on 

our website at www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.faq.htm. 

In summary, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 

379,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little 

changed at 6.2 percent.