--US February payroll jobs +135,000; jobless rate unchanged at 4.2%
--US Feb avg hourly earnings +0.5%
--US February factory jobs -94,000; services jobs +95,000
--US February private payrolls +98,000; government +37,000
--US February avg hourly earnings +4.1% from year ago; Jan +4.0%
--US Feb available labor pool unchanged at 10.4 mln vs January
--US February workweek -0.1 hr; manufacturing workweek -0.3 hr
--US Feb weekly hours index -0.5% to 151.0; factory index -1.4%
--US January payroll jobs revised to +224,000 from +268,000
--US December payroll jobs revised to +36,000 from +19,000
--US Feb construction jobs +16,000; service-producing jobs +210,000
--US February retail jobs +37,000
By Simon Kennedy
Washington, March 9 (BridgeNews) - U.S. non-farm payroll jobs surged an unexpectedly strong 135,000 in February as increases in service employment dwarfed another contraction in manufacturing. Factory jobs fell 94,000, the sector's seventh straight drop, but service-producing industries took on 210,000 workers. Analysts had expected payrolls to rise just 50,000 after January's 224,000 climb. Unemployment held steady at 4.2% in February while average hourly earnings jumped 0.5%.
* * * Private economists had projected a 0.3% rise in average earnings and an unemployment rate of 4.3% for February. In January, average earnings were virtually unchanged and the jobless rate stood at 4.2%.
Friday's report from the Labor Department paints a picture of a U.S. economy that is working at two speeds, with manufacturing mired in recession and the service industry--such as retail and finance--managing to keep on growing.
Within the service-producing sector--which enjoyed its biggest gain since May--retail businesses added 37,000 to payrolls, while banks and other financial institutions hired 16,000. The narrow services category, which includes a variety of business and health services, added 95,000 jobs, the biggest number since September. More