Hospitality and retail industries deliver unexpectedly strong U.S. job growth

The U.S. added 311,000 jobs last month, more than economists had generally expected. In particular, catering companies, retailers and government and healthcare organizations took on more employees. At the same time, unemployment increased slightly as the total labor force increased.

Economists polled by Bloomberg News expect an increase of 225,000 jobs in February. In January, the number of jobs in the U.S. increased by 504,000, according to a new U.S. government report on the labor market.

Unemployment rose to 3.6 percent. A month ago, 3.4 percent of the U.S. labor force was still out of paid work and economists expected that number to remain the same.

The labor force consists of all working people and people and recently unemployed people. That group can grow if more people put themselves to work. As a result, unemployment will also increase while the number of jobs will also increase.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report always gets a lot of attention in financial markets because it can tell us something about the interest rate policy pursued by the Federal Reserve. In the latest report, investors mainly see signs that the central bank will raise interest rates more sharply than previously feared. Shares rose in premarket trading on the New York Stock Exchange. US government bonds also rose in value.