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. ||||| 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.
– US employers pulled back on hiring in April after a streak of solid monthly gains, adding 160,000 jobs, the fewest in seven months, the AP reports. The unemployment rate remained at a low of 5%, roughly the same level it has been since the fall. The job gain was down from the average increase of 200,000 over the past three months, which is the softest three-month pace since October. The slowdown may raise concerns that weak US economic growth has discouraged some employers from hiring. The economy's growth has slumped to a sluggish 1% annual rate since October. Meanwhile, the labor participation rate went down to 62.8%, per Money. But there was good news on the wage gains front: Average hourly pay rose 2.5% from a year earlier—a "hot number," the Wall Street Journal notes, and above the sluggish 2% pace that has been typical for the past six years. Money reports that consumer confidence in the jobs that are out there is rising, with more people perceiving that jobs are "plentiful" rather than "hard to get" for the first time since the Great Recession ended. The Journal notes that April's jobs report will only serve to keep the Fed in "standby mode" as it ponders whether to boost the short-term interest rate. Officials had suggested that such a rate increase in June may have been in the cards if the economy picked up steam—but now it will likely take better news on consumption, hiring, and inflation for the rate increase to happen.