US economy shrugs off winter weather to add 295,000 jobs in February

Strong jobs numbers beat economists' expectations and is the 12th consecutive month of over 200,000 jobs, as unemployment rate falls to 5.5%

The US economy shook off the brutal winter weather in February to add 295,000 new jobs, the 12th straight month it has added over 200,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labour Statistics said Friday.

Economists had forecast employers would add 240,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate would fall to 5.6% from January's 5.7%. The actual figures beat predictions on both scores with the unemployment rate dropping to 5.5%.

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