The unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 percent in February, following five months of declining unemployment, a good trend for the president though unemployment remains historically high. With 227,000 jobs added, February was the third straight month to see growth above 200,000.
Economists surveyed by Reuters and Bloomberg expected a gain of 210,000 jobs and unemployment to hold steady, a three-year low.
The last time more than 200,000 jobs were added for three straight months was early 2011. Before that, was early 2006, well before the recession. Job growth in December and January was revised up. The February numbers cap the strongest six months of job growth since mid-2006.
The trends may be good for President Obama, but the overall numbers remain high. Republicans will likely pounce on the figures to argue that the economy is not improving quickly enough, while Democrats and the president have already begun arguing that the administration's policies verify Obama’s approach.
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