[Buincchotourb]

Circuit Breakers
“There is hiring going on,” Richard Fearon, chief financial officer at Eaton Corp. (ETN) said at a March 6 industrial conference in New York. The Cleveland-based maker of circuit breakers and truck transmissions will “definitely need more manpower to serve” growing demand for tractor-trailers and for the equipment used in construction and hydraulics, he said.

The participation rate, which indicates the share of working-age people in the labor force, rose to 63.9 percent from 63.7 percent.

Private payrolls, which exclude government agencies, rose 233,000 in February after a revised gain of 285,000 the prior month that made it the biggest increase since February 2006. They were projected to climb by 225,000. Manufacturing payrolls increased by 31,000 after a revised 52,000 gain.

Even with the “positive developments” in the job market, Bernanke told lawmakers last week the “modest and uneven” expansion needs the support of monetary policy. The central bank said in January that economic conditions are likely to warrant low interest rates at least through late 2014.

March 13 Meeting
Policy makers meeting on March 13 are likely to repeat that view while refraining from any additional easing measures, say economists, including Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Commerce Department last week reported the economy grew at a 3 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter after a 1.8 percent gain in the prior three months.

“The unemployment rate remains elevated, long-term unemployment is still near record levels and the number of persons working part time for economic reasons is very high,” Bernanke said during a Feb. 29 testimony to Congress. Fed policy makers judge “that sustaining a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy is consistent with promoting both objectives” for stable prices and maximum employment, he said.

Employment at service-providers increased 203,000. Retail payrolls fell 7,400 in February. Professional and business service employment increased 82,000 last month, including a 45,200 pickup in temporary hiring.

Education, Health
Education and health services employment jumped 71,000, the most since September 2006, according the Labor Department.

Construction companies reduced payrolls by 13,000 workers last month, the biggest drop since January 2011.

Government payrolls decreased by 6,000 in February, reflecting cutbacks at the federal and state levels.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.1 percent to $23.31, today’s report showed. The workweek for all employees averaged 34.5 hours for a third consecutive month.

The so-called underemployment rate, which includes part- time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking, decreased to a three-year low of 14.9 percent from 15.1 percent.

The report also showed a decrease in long-term unemployed Americans. The number of people without a job for 27 weeks or more fell as a percentage of all jobless, to 42.6 percent from 42.9 percent.