WASHINGTON — Companies added more workers in February than in any month in almost a year — a turning point for the economy that finally pushed the unemployment rate below 9 percent. Economists say the stronger hiring should endure all year.
The 222,000 jobs that the private sector created more than offset layoffs by financially squeezed state and local governments. They slashed 30,000 jobs, the most since November.
The unemployment rate sank to 8.9 percent, the lowest since April 2009. The rate has now fallen almost a full percentage point in three months — the sharpest drop in a generation.
Hiring last month was broad — factories, trucking companies, health care providers, construction firms, hotels and restaurants all added jobs.
“Bottom line: The labor market is turning the corner,” said Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners, an economic research firm.
The figures suggest the economy has entered a healthier phase typical of what economists call a virtuous cycle: Americans are spending more, which raises corporate profits, which leads to hiring and more spending and growth.
At UPS, for example, revenue and profits have risen because of the growing economy. The company has nearly 250 job openings for salaried positions, up from 100 this time last year, and is hiring hourly workers at 150 locations.
Normally, the company just rehires its temporary employees from the holidays if it needs them. But this year, “we’ve already hired a lot of those folks back, and we still have more needs,” said Matt Lavery, UPS’s head of recruiting.
During the recession, the cycle was more vicious than virtuous: Waves of layoffs suppressed consumer spending, which lowered corporate profits and triggered more job cuts.
On Wall Street, another spike in oil prices rattled investors and overshadowed the good news on hiring. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 88 points, one day after posting its biggest gain of 2011.
Other forces are still working against the economic recovery. State and local governments are expected to keep shedding jobs, and inflation and higher gas prices resulting from the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East are threats.
Still, economists now think private companies will feel comfortable enough to add 200,000 jobs a month through the rest of this year. That would be an improvement from the average of 150,000 jobs created during the past three months.
