FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2015, file photo, the Space Needle towers in the background beyond a container ship anchored in Elliott Bay near downtown Seattle. U.S. employers are thought to have hired at a... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2015, file photo, the Space Needle towers in the background beyond a container ship anchored in Elliott Bay near downtown Seattle. U.S. employers are thought to have hired at a... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a robust 235,000 jobs in February and raised pay at a healthy pace, making it all but certain that the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates next week. 
 
 Friday's jobs report from the government made clear that the economy remains on solid footing nearly eight years after the Great Recession ended. 
 
 The unemployment rate dipped to a low 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent, the Labor Department said. More people began looking for jobs in February, a sign of confidence that raised the proportion of Americans working or seeking work to the highest level in nearly a year. 
 
 The gains in hiring and pay, along with higher consumer and business confidence since the November election, could lift spending and investment in coming months and accelerate economic growth. Americans are buying homes at a solid pace, and manufacturing is rebounding, in part because of improving economies overseas. 
 
 The February jobs data likely provides the final piece of evidence the Fed needs to feel confident enough to resume raising rates. A rate increase at the Fed's meeting next week would mark its third hike in 15 months, a reflection of how far the economy has come since the recession ended. 
 
 Average hourly pay rose 2.8 percent year over year in February, a decent gain though slightly below historical averages. In a healthy economy, wages typically rise at a roughly 3.5 percent annual pace. 
 
 Last month's hiring was boosted by 58,000 additional construction jobs, the most in nearly a decade. That figure was likely enhanced by unseasonably warm weather in much of the nation. 
 
 Friday's report was the first to cover a full month under President Donald Trump. During the presidential campaign, Trump had cast doubt on the validity of the government's jobs data, calling the unemployment rate a "hoax." But just minutes after Friday's report was released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, Trump retweeted a news report touting the job growth. 
 
 An array of evidence suggests that the U.S. job market is fundamentally healthy or nearly so. Hiring over the past two months has averaged 237,000, up from last year's monthly average of 187,000. 
 
 The number of people seeking first-time unemployment benefits — a rough proxy for the pace of layoffs — reached a 44-year low two weeks ago. 
 
 Business confidence has risen since the presidential election, with many business executives saying they expect faster economic growth to result from Trump's promised tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending. 
 
 The U.S. economy is also benefiting from steadier economies overseas. Growth is picking up or stabilizing in most European countries as well as in China and Japan. 
 
 The 19-nation alliance that uses the euro currency expanded 1.7 percent in 2016, an improvement from years of recession and anemic growth. Germany's unemployment rate has fallen to 3.9 percent, although in crisis-stricken Greece, unemployment remains a painful 23 percent. 
 
 In the United States, employers have been hiring solidly for so long that in some industries, they're being compelled to raise pay. Hourly wages for the typical worker rose 3.1 percent in 2016, according to a report this week by the Economic Policy Institute. That's much higher than the 0.3 percent average annual pay gain, adjusted for inflation, since 2007, the EPI said. 
 
 Minimum wage increases last year in 17 states and Washington, D.C., helped raise pay among the lowest-paid workers, the EPI found. Pay increases for the poorest 10 percent of workers were more than twice as high in states where the minimum wage rose as in states where it did not. 
 
 At the start of 2017, minimum wages rose again in 19 states, a trend that might have helped raise pay last month. 
 
 U.S. builders are breaking ground on more homes, and factory production has recovered from an 18-month slump, fueling growth and hiring. In February, manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years, according to a trade group. Businesses have stepped up their purchases of industrial equipment, steel and other metals, and computers. 
 
 And in January, Americans bought homes at the fastest pace in a decade despite higher mortgage rates. That demand has spurred a 10.5 percent increase in home construction in the past 12 months. ||||| An employee works on the production line at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama facility in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg) 
 
 The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July, according to government data released Friday morning, surpassing economists' expectations and suggesting the economy continues to thrive after an extended streak of job gains in recent years. 
 
 The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3 percent, compared with 4.4 percent in June, and wages rose by 2.5 percent from the year before to $26.36 in July. 
 
 “It was pretty solid across the board,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JP Morgan. “It suggests there is really no slowing in the momentum of the labor market.” 
 
 [How healthy is Trump’s economy?] 
 
 President Trump greeted the report as evidence of his administration's success, tweeting Friday morning, “Excellent Jobs Numbers just released — and I have only just begun.” 
 
 Yet average monthly jobs gains this year, which are now at 184,000, are basically in line with the average monthly gains of 187,000 in 2016. 
 
 “We’re looking at job growth that was pretty similar to what we were getting a year ago or two years ago. I just don’t think at a business cycle frequency these things respond to political developments,” Feroli said. 
 
 The U.S. labor market has made strong and steady gains in recent months, even as this period of economic expansion has stretched into the third longest in history. That has driven U.S. stock markets to record highs, with the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closing above 22,000 Wednesday for the first time in history. The Dow opened at 22,058.39 Friday morning, before retreating slightly by mid-day. 
 
 July’s additions also signify a notable turning point for the U.S. economy: After accounting for shifts in population, the level of employment has returned to what it was at in November 2007, before the recession decimated the job market, according to research published Friday morning by the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton project. 
 
 “It does not mean there’s no slack in the economy, [or] that we’re at full employment. But it does mean the job losses from the Great Recession are behind us,” said Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, one of the report’s authors. 
 
 Job gains were broadly spread across many sectors, with health care, restaurants and office jobs recording the strongest increases. 
 
 Low-wage industries like leisure and hospitality grew the fastest in July, a development which may help lower-income Americans get back to work, said Jed Kolko, chief economist at jobs site Indeed. Yet manufacturing hit a new low in July as a share of all U.S. jobs, said Kolko. While manufacturing has been a focus of the Trump administration, the sector continues to shed jobs, due largely to automation. 
 
 Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 180,000 jobs to be added in the month, in line with average monthly gains for the first six months of the year. Government statisticians revised their estimates for May and June, in total adding 2,000 jobs to the rolls. 
 
 America's monthly jobs report can be hard to understand. Here's what you need to know about non-farm payroll employment and the unemployment rate—with gummy bears to help explain. (Kate M. Tobey,Gillian Brockell,Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) 
 
 The labor force swelled as more Americans found work. The labor force participation rate, the percentage of the population that is either employed or actively seeking work, ticked up to 62.9 percent after dipping in previous months. 
 
 The jobs data is gathered from two separate surveys, one of employers and the other of households. It will be revised twice in subsequent months, sometimes significantly. 
 
 The economy's strength has encouraged the Federal Reserve to continue to gradually raise interest rates to more normal levels, after years of keeping lending easy to stimulate the economy. 
 
 Yet wage growth remains somewhat tepid, a sign that the economy may have farther to go before reaching the point where further expansion merely results in inflationary pressures. As the unemployment rate falls, business owners have to compete more to hire qualified workers, forcing them to raise wages and adding to inflation. 
 
 In a call on Thursday to state their support for Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen and urge Trump to reappoint her when her term expires early next year, members of a coalition called Fed Up argued that the economy’s recovery is not yet complete and that the Fed should maintain low interest rates to allow workers, especially lower-income communities of color, to recover from the financial crisis. 
 
 “We still don’t look like an economy that should still be raising interest rates, and we absolutely should not be raising interest rates in an autopilot kind of way,” said Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute. 
 
 Futures contracts indicate most investors expect the central bank to hold interest rates steady when it meets in September, instead focusing on a plan to reduce its massive balance sheet. But those contracts put the odds of a rate hike in December at over 40 percent. 
 
 Investors should bet on more rate hikes this year, Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG, said in an email to clients Thursday. “Inflation is coming and the Fed has to push interest rates back to normal levels before inflation gets there.” 
 
 See also: 
 
 U.S. economy rebounds in the second quarter 
 
 Federal Reserve leaves interest rate unchanged, readies markets for balance sheet changes 
 
 Amid resistance, Trump backs away from controversial trade plan ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a vigorous 257,000 jobs in January, and wages jumped by the most in six years — evidence that the U.S. job market is accelerating closer to full health. 
 
 In this Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 photo, job applicant Rafael Ferrer, 49, left, shakes hands with a representative of the Hilton Bentley Miami Beach hotel during a job fair at the Hospitality Institute, Friday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 The surprisingly robust report the Labor Department issued Friday also showed that hiring was far stronger in November and December than previously thought. Employers added 414,000 jobs in November — the most in 17 years. Job growth in December was also revised sharply higher, to 329,000, from 252,000. 
 
 Average hourly wages soared 12 cents in December to $24.75, the biggest gain since September 2008. In the past year, hourly pay has increased 2.2 percent. That is ahead of inflation, which rose just 0.7 percent in 2014. 
 
 The sharp drop in gas prices in the past year has held down inflation and boosted Americans' spending power. Still, wages typically rise at a roughly 3.5 percent pace in a fully healthy economy. 
 
 The unemployment rate in January rose to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent. But that occurred for a good reason: More Americans began looking for jobs, though not all of them found work. Their job hunting suggests that they are more confident about their prospects. 
 
 Strong hiring pushes up wages as employers compete for fewer workers. Job gains have now averaged 336,000 a month for the past three months, the best three-month pace in 17 years. Just a year ago, the three-month average was only 197,000. 
 
 The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring wages and other job market data as it considers when to begin raising the short-term interest rate it controls from a record low near zero. The Fed has kept rates at record lows for more than six years to help stimulate growth. Most economists think the central bank will start boosting rates as early as June. 
 
 Steady economic growth has encouraged companies to keep hiring. The economy expanded at a 4.8 percent annual rate during spring and summer, the fastest six-month pace in a decade, before slowing to a still-decent 2.6 percent pace in the final three months of 2014. 
 
 There are now 3.2 million more Americans earning paychecks than there were 12 months ago. That lifts consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic growth. 
 
 More hiring, along with sharply lower gasoline prices, has boosted Americans' confidence and spending power. Consumer confidence jumped in January to its highest level in a decade, according to a survey by the University of Michigan. And Americans increased their spending during the final three months of last year at the fastest pace in nearly nine years. ||||| WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The pace of hiring in the U.S. tapered off in January, but wages rose sharply and the unemployment rate dipped below 5% for the first time since 2008 in a mixed report that adds little clarity about the health of the economy. 
 
 The U.S. generated 151,000 nonfarm jobs in the first month of 2016, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected hiring to slow to 180,000 after big gains at the end of last year. 
 
 The smaller-than-expected increase could add to growing worries about a weakening U.S. economy and even the possibility of recession. U.S. stocks fell in early Friday trading. 
 
 Read: Recession not happening in the U.S., CEOs signal 
 
 Yet the January jobs report also offered some good news to suggest the labor market remains healthy enough to keep the economy moving. 
 
 The unemployment rate, for example, fell a tick to 4.9% the lowest reading in eight years. 
 
 The U.S. is still creating more than enough jobs to keep up with increases in the size of the labor force. Over the past three months, for example, the economy has gained an average of 231,000 new jobs. That’s well above average. 
 
 In another sign of a robust labor market, the average wage paid to workers jumped 0.5% in January to $25.39 an hour. Wage growth accelerated toward the end of 2015, and it’s climbed 2.5% in the past 12 months, just a hair below the post-recession high set in December. 
 
 Economists predict wages will rise even faster in 2016 as it gets harder for companies to find good help. At the same time, they expect hiring to slow as the pool of available labor shrinks. 
 
 In any case, the latest snapshot of labor-market trends did little to clear up questions about where the economy is going. A raft of reports in early 2016 suggests growth remains sluggish following a slowdown in the fourth quarter. 
 
 “The January employment report is clearly a half glass of water,” said Steve Blitz, chief economist of ITG Investment Research. 
 
 The mixed picture won’t give the Federal Reserve much to chew over, either. Economists predict the central bank will wait until at least early summer before raising interest rates again. 
 
 Inside the report 
 
 The retail industry added the most new jobs in January, taking on 58,000 new employees. Restaurants hired 47,000 workers and health-care companies boosted payrolls by 37,000. 
 
 In a surprise, manufacturers also created the most new jobs in a year, with payrolls rising by 29,000. Makers of food products led the way. Yet the increase in hiring in January is unlikely to be sustained as manufacturers struggle with falling exports in key overseas markets. 
 
 The financial industry beefed up staff by 18,000, continuing a steady trend of hiring after years of little employment growth. 
 
 Yet the ranks of professionals only increased by 9,000, largely because of a big drop in temps. These types of jobs have grown the rapidly during the economic recovery. 
 
 As expected, the transportation sector cut 20,000 jobs, mostly couriers used during the holidays to deliver packages. The energy industry, coping with cheap oil, also eliminated more jobs. 
 
 The pace of job creation at the end of 2015 was little changed after the government incorporated annual revisions in the employment report. 
 
 Some 262,000 new jobs were created in December instead of 292,000. But November’s gain was raised to 280,000 from 252,000. 
 
 More from MarketWatch
– The latest jobs report might have President Trump tweet-boasting again. Employers added 211,000 jobs in April, more than expected, following a poor showing of just 79,000 in March. (The latter figure was revised downward from an already weak 98,000.) The unemployment rate, meanwhile, ticked down to 4.4% from 4.5%, the lowest point in a decade, reports the AP. The rate had been expected to hold steady or even rise a bit. The current figure means that the US is at or near what economists consider "full employment," notes the Wall Street Journal, meaning that pretty much anyone looking for a job could get one. "This just adds to the perception that it's going to be easier and easier to find a job if you want one these days," an analyst at Fitch Ratings tells CNBC, adding that it should in theory lead to raises. "If it's easier for (workers) to get a job outside their company, they're more likely to push for higher wages." The latest report shows that there's room for that to happen. Average hourly wages rose 7 cents in April to $26.19, up 2.7% from last month and 2.5% over the last year. That's seen as solid, but not great—when an economy is in full swing, wages typically rise between 3% and 4%, notes MarketWatch.