In February, employers helped drive the best job growth that the U.S. has seen since July 2016. According to a recent Fox Business article, employers added 313,000 jobs last month, which far surpasses the 200,000 job increase expectation.

The Labor Department also announced that the unemployment rate has remained at 4.1 percent, which is the lowest rate it’s been in more than 17 years. The labor force participation rate also jumped from 62.7 to 63 percent in February, which puts a number on the percentage of working-age Americans who are either working or looking for work. Average hourly wages increased as well, but only by 2.6 percent year-over-year.

JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist and managing director of TD Ameritrade, told Fox Business, “If you wrote the script for what you would like the number to be, this is the perfect number. You saw incredible growth in the economy, while not spooking anyone with wages.”

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Cassidy McAloon

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Cassidy McAloon

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Cassie has over five years of digital and traditional media experience. She joined NLA after working as a television news producer in both Milwaukee and Chicago, and now specializes in aligning strategies across the board for her clients, ultimately building buzz and telling compelling stories through content marketing, social media, digital campaigns and traditional PR.

Cassie has a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast and Electronic Communications from Marquette University. In her spare time, Cassie enjoys traveling and exploring what new cities have to offer in addition to spending time with her friends and family.