February jobs report shows continued gains

Dan Li |
Chief Financial Officer | Snagajob + PhD in Economics | Northwestern University

The job market continued to be strong In February, as employers added 311,000, with notable gains in the leisure and hospitality, retail, and construction sectors.

Average hourly earnings rose by just $.08 in February, making the 12-month increase 4.6%.

On Snagajob, hourly jobs are up 15% month over month, with the biggest month-over-month gains coming from the accounting, transportation, and customer service industries.

We’ve rounded up key insights from coverage of this month’s report:

  • Wall Street Journal: “More Americans ages 25 to 54 jumped into the labor force–giving companies more workers to choose from and taking some pressure off wage growth, which was little changed in February from January.”

  • Financial Times “February’s report is one of the most consequential data releases ahead of the Fed’s next policy meeting on March 21-22, and will play an influential role in whether the central bank resumes more aggressive rate rises after a deluge of unexpectedly strong data.”

  • New York Times: “Hiring has been a persistent source of dynamism in the economy since the pandemic lockdowns eased, even in the face of interest rate increases that have raised fears of a recession.”

  • Washington Post: “The February job gains came in lower than the previous month’s eye-popping numbers, but beat economists’ predictions, reflecting ongoing resilience in the labor market.”

Hourly Jobs

All industry data is from 3/2/20-2/28/2023

Here are the latest overall job numbers:

Overall hourly jobs are up 78% from February 2020's pre-pandemic numbers, and we are seeing a 14% month-over-month growth.

Here are the latest job numbers by industry and category:

Food & Restaurant jobs are down 6% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 1% month-over-month drop, and a 33% year-over-year decline.

Hotel & Hospitality jobs are down 32% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 13% month-over-month drop, and a 52% year-over-year decline.

Healthcare jobs are up 164% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 5% month-over-month increase, and a 25% year-over-year growth.

Retail jobs are down 18% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 9% month-over-month drop, and a 45% year-over-year decline.

Warehouse & Logistics jobs are up 322% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 17% decline month-over-month, and with a 40% year-over-year drop.

Shifts by Snagajob requested shifts are up 179% compared to pre-pandemic norms and up 19% year over year. Fill rates are showing a 1% month-over-month decline, and a 1% year-over-year growth.