Job market still chugging even as economic risks grow
CBSN
Hiring across the U.S. surged last month as the economy continued to recover from a labor market slowdown caused by the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Payrolls grew by 678,000 in February, the Labor Department reported on Friday, exceeding analyst forecasts of around 440,000 jobs. That's an increase of 200,000 from the previous month and the strongest month for hiring since October of last year. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8% as more workers found jobs. That is the lowest jobless rate since February of 2020 just before pandemic took hold in the U.S.
"There's very strong levels of demand for workers," Nick Bunker, head of research at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told CBS MoneyWatch.
The launch of Boeing's star-crossed Starliner spacecraft on its first piloted test flight is slipping to at least June 1 to give engineers more time to assess a small-but-persistent helium leak in the capsule's propulsion system, and its potential impact across all phases of flight, NASA announced Wednesday.
Washington — As former President Donald Trump's "hush money" criminal trial in New York proceeds to closing arguments next week, the legal focus is moving south. His attorneys and longtime aide Walt Nauta appeared before Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon, where they sparred with prosecutors during two contentious, day-long hearings on Wednesday.