Job losses drop again in February, while unemployment holds steady,
but a job market recovery is still years away.
The U.S. Labor Department announced on Friday that the economy lost only a net of 36,000 jobs in
February -- much fewer than the 68,000 jobs economists were expecting -- while the unemployment
rate held steady at 9.7. The numbers were a bit worse than January, which had a revised loss of 26,000 jobs.
Construction workers continued to be one of the worst-hit employment sectors, where employers
cut 64,000 jobs in February -- pushing the industry unemployment to a rate of just above 27 percent.
Temporary employment had another big gain in February, raising hopes that a broader job market recovery
is coming.
Still, many economists predict the job market will not fully recover for several years.
