NEW YORK (CNNMoney) – Hiring remained strong in February, but the overall job market is not out of the woods yet.
Employers added 227,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported Friday, a pinch slower than in January, when the economy added 284,000 jobs.
But the job growth was better than expected. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney had predicted 210,000 jobs added in the month.
Plus, upward revisions from January and December added an additional 61,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at 8.3%, in line with expectations.
Private businesses were the main driver of job growth, and have been adding jobs consistently since March 2010. In February, they added 233,000 jobs.
But government job losses have been offsetting some the private sector gains, with most of the bleeding at the state and local level. Last month, 6,000 were lost.
The American economy lost 8.8 million jobs in the financial crisis, and has since added back more than 3 million jobs.
