**MNI 5 Things: US Payrolls Ripping +313k, Earnings +0.1%>

--5 Things We Learned From The February Employment Data

By Kevin Kastner, Sara Haire and Holly Stokes

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following are the key points from the 

February employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday: 

     - The payrolls data were very strong and could cause some 

indigestion for market participants. The data show payrolls rose 

313,000, a much larger gain than expected and following a sharp net 

upward revision to December and January payrolls. Other data were more 

in line with expectations, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 

4.1% and hourly earnings up 0.1% (+0.14976%, very close to +0.2%) for a 

2.6% year/year pace vs 2.8% year/year in January. Hourly earnings were 

unrevised at +0.3% for January. 

     - Analysts had expected a 0.2% rise for hourly earnings, and 

today's unrounded data shows it was almost rounded up to that point. 

However, today's hourly earnings print was well below the 0.3% gain in 

the whisper number, so that should provide some offset to the very 

strong payrolls number. Average weekly hours bounced back up to 34.5 in 

the month from 34.4 in January, along with payrolls lifting aggregate 

hours by 0.6%. 

     - The jump in nonfarm payrolls included a 287,000 gain in private 

jobs, also well above the 200,000 gain expected. An MNI analysis had 

shown a tendency of analysts to underestimate payrolls in February, with 

low misses in each of the last six years, so today's result continues 

that trend. 

     - Payrolls in December and January were revised up by a net 54,000, 

reflecting a upward revision to both December and January. The stronger 

growth in February payrolls was led by strong gains in construction 

(+61k), retail (+50k), government (+26k), and temporary help services 

(+27k). 

     - The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1% (4.142% vs 4.149% in 

January). Both household employment and unemployment rose while the 

participation rate rose by 0.3pp to 63.0%. The U-6 Rate held steady at 

8.2%. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]