Dados EUA (13:30) : Job growth weakest in 2 years but ...

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Job growth weakest in 2 years but ...

Employers added fewer jobs in February, but estimate for January revised higher; unemployment rate drops to 4.5%.

March 9 2007: 9:20 AM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Payroll growth was the weakest in two years in February but a lower unemployment rate and a revision higher for January job growth hinted at surprising resilience in the nation's labor market.

The economy created 97,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said, down from a revised 146,000 gain in January, which was 35,000 more than the government's original estimate a month ago.

The gain of 97,000 was the smallest since January 2005, weaker than even the final readings in the two months after Hurricane Katrina that fall. But it was roughly in line with the forecasts of economists surveyed by Briefing.com, who had been looking for a gain of 100,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate fell 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent in January. The consensus among economists was that the unemployment rate would stay at 4.6 percent, although a bit more than 20 percent of those surveyed by Reuters had been looking for a rise to 4.7 percent. Few had forecast a decline.

The average hourly wage rose 6 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $17.16. That was bigger than the 0.3 percent rise forecast by economists.

Wages are now up 4.1 percent from a year earlier, and kept worker pay ahead of price increases. There was a 2.1 percent increase in prices over the 12 months ending in January, according to the Consumer Price Index, the government's key inflation measure.

Stock futures, which predict the direction of stocks at the open, turned higher after the report, while bond price were lower. The report might be good news for stocks but was bad news for those looking for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to spur a sluggish economy.