The U.S. economy added 273,000 new jobs in February, almost 100,000 more positions than economists predicted.
The unemployment rate dropped back to 3.5 percent, matching a half-century low, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages increased 3.0 percent year over year compared to last February, and 0.3 percent over the month.
Meanwhile, December and January jobs reports were revised up even further a total of 85,000 new jobs.
Job growth was particularly strong in the health care and science sectors as businesses added jobs related to fighting the spreading coronavirus. The restaurant industry and construction companies also added jobs, and the federal government added about 7,000 temporary workers for the Census.
Much of the data was recorded before the coronavirus began to spread within the U.S. in the second half of February, rattling investors and businesses. The March jobs report is expected to reflect the damage the spread of the outbreak has done to the economy.
The U.S. stock market plummeted over 900 points along with markets worldwide during the last week of February as the virus spread across the globe to a slew of new countries in Asia, Europe, and eventually America. Gold meanwhile shot to its highest level in seven years.
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half-percentage-point as the coronavirus began to spread in the U.S., a move aimed at curbing the economic damage of the epidemic.
The virus, a respiratory illness, has killed over 3,200 and infected over 100,000, including over 200 people in the U.S.
On Friday, President Trump signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to combat the virus.