US adds 151,000 jobs in February, less than forecasts

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy added 151,000 jobs in February, falling short of market estimates, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls was to show a gain of 159,000 last month.

Job additions for January, on the other hand, were revised down by 18,000, from 143,000 to 125,000.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose to 4.1% in February from 4% in January.

The market estimate for the figure was to remain at 4%.

The number of unemployed people stood at 7.1 million in February, while the labor force participation rate was at 62.4%, according to the Labor Department.