Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, March 4, 2022. 

Statement of 

William W. Beach 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, March 4, 2022

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February, and 

the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent. Employment 

growth was widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, 

professional and business services, health care, and 

construction. 

Employment is down by 2.1 million, or 1.4 percent, from its 

level before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 

February 2020. 

In February, employment growth continued in leisure and 

hospitality (+179,000) with job gains in food services and 

drinking places (+124,000) and accommodation (+28,000). 

Employment in leisure and hospitality is down by 1.5 million, or 

9.0 percent, from its February 2020 level. 

Employment rose by 95,000 in professional and business 

services in February. Over the month, job gains occurred in 

temporary help services (+36,000), management of companies and 
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enterprises (+12,000), management and technical consulting 

services (+10,000), and scientific research and development 

services (+8,000). Employment in professional and business 

services is 596,000 higher than in February 2020, largely in 

temporary help services (+240,000), computer systems design and 

related services (+154,000), and management and technical 

consulting services (+152,000). 

Health care added 64,000 jobs in February. Employment 

increased in home health care services (+20,000), offices of 

physicians (+15,000), and offices of other health practitioners 

(+12,000). Health care employment is 306,000 below its February 

2020 level. 

Construction employment rose by 60,000 in February, 

following little change in January. Job growth was concentrated 

in specialty trade contractors (+44,000), with both the 

residential (+24,000) and nonresidential (+20,000) components 

contributing to the gain. Construction employment is slightly 

below (-11,000) its February 2020 level. 

In February, job growth continued in transportation and 

warehousing (+48,000). Employment increased in warehousing and 

storage (+11,000), couriers and messengers (+9,000), support 

activities for transportation (+9,000), and air transportation 

(+7,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing is 

584,000 above its February 2020 level, with particularly strong 
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growth in warehousing and storage (+420,000) and couriers and 

messengers (+240,000). 

Retail trade added 37,000 jobs in February. Employment rose 

in building material and garden supply stores (+12,000), 

furniture and home furnishings stores (+6,000), and gasoline 

stations (+5,000). Retail trade employment is 104,000 higher 

than in February 2020. 

In February, manufacturing added 36,000 jobs. Employment 

rose by 20,000 in durable goods industries. Job gains occurred 

in fabricated metal products (+11,000), machinery (+8,000), 

electrical equipment and appliances (+4,000), nonmetallic 

mineral products (+3,000), furniture and related products 

(+3,000), and primary metals (+3,000). These gains were 

partially offset by a job loss in motor vehicles and parts 

(-18,000). Nondurable goods manufacturing also added jobs in 

February (+16,000). Manufacturing employment is down by 178,000 

from its February 2020 level. 

Employment in financial activities grew by 35,000 in 

February, with job gains of 16,000 each in finance and insurance 

and in real estate. Employment in financial activities is 31,000 

higher than its February 2020 level. 

Social assistance added 31,000 jobs in February, with twothirds of the gain occurring in individual and family services 
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(+21,000). Employment in social assistance is down by 152,000 

since February 2020. 

Employment in the other services industry rose by 25,000 in 

February, with a job gain in repair and maintenance (+10,000). 

Employment in the other services industry is 317,000, or 5.3 

percent, below its February 2020 level. 

Wholesale trade added 18,000 jobs in February, but 

employment in the industry is down by 113,000 since February 

2020. 

Employment in mining increased by 9,000 in February, with 

job gains in support activities for mining (+6,000) and oil and 

gas extraction (+2,000). Since a recent low in February 2021, 

mining employment has grown by 62,000. 

In February, employment showed little or no change in 

information and government. 

The average workweek for all private-sector workers rose by 

0.1 hour in February to 34.7 hours. The average workweek for 

manufacturing rose by 0.4 hour to 40.7 hours. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls, at $31.58, changed little in February (+1 cent), 

following large increases in recent months. Over the past 12 

months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.1 percent. 

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, both the unemployment rate, at 3.8 percent in February, 
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and the number of unemployed people, at 6.3 million, edged down 

over the month. Both measures remain above their February 2020 

levels (3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively). 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for 

adult men (3.5 percent) and Hispanics (4.4 percent) declined in 

February. The jobless rates for adult women (3.6 percent), 

teenagers (10.3 percent), Whites (3.3 percent), Blacks (6.6 

percent), and Asians (3.1 percent) showed little or no change. 

Among the unemployed, the number of people on temporary 

layoff, at 888,000 in February, changed little over the month. 

The number of permanent job losers, at 1.6 million, also changed 

little in February. Both measures are higher than their February 

2020 levels of 780,000 and 1.3 million, respectively. 

In February, the number of people jobless less than 5 weeks 

declined by 286,000 to 2.1 million. The number of people 

unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often referred to as the longterm unemployed) was essentially unchanged at 1.7 million. These 

individuals accounted for 26.7 percent of the unemployed in 

February. The number of long-term unemployed is 581,000 above 

its February 2020 level. 

The labor force participation rate, at 62.3 percent, 

changed little over the month. The employment-population ratio 

edged up to 59.9 percent in February. Both measures are up over 
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the year but remain below their February 2020 levels (63.4 

percent and 61.2 percent, respectively). 

In February, the number of people working part time for 

economic reasons increased by 418,000 to 4.1 million but remains 

below its February 2020 level of 4.4 million. 

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job declined by 349,000 to 5.4 million in February. This 

measure remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million. 

Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a 

job, 1.5 million were marginally attached to the labor force in 

February, little changed over the month. (People who are 

marginally attached to the labor force had not actively looked 

for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, 

were available for work, and 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 also little changed at 391,000 in February. 

Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 

household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because 

of the pandemic declined to 13.0 percent in February. These data 

refer only to employed people who teleworked or worked from home 

for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because 

of the pandemic; they do not include all instances of telework. 
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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 fell to 4.2 million, following a 

sharp rise in the prior month. (These individuals did not work 

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

due to the pandemic.) 

Among those who reported in February that they were unable 

to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost business, 

20.3 percent received at least some pay from their employer for 

the hours not worked, down from the prior month. 

Among those not in the labor force in February, 1.2 million 

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

down from January. (To be counted as unemployed, by definition, 

individuals must either be actively searching for work or on 

temporary layoff.) 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 678,000 

in February, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 

percent.