Business

Wages Fall, Exports At Five-Year Low

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
Font Size:

American unemployment held steady in February while hourly wages fell, and government numbers showed export levels falling to a five-and-a-half year low.

Economists estimate that there were 242,000 more people employed in non farm jobs last month with the non farm unemployment rate staying at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent, Reuters reports.

However not all news regarding the economy was positive. It was projected that hourly earnings would increase .3 percent, instead they fell by .1 percent.

In addition to this the U.S Commerce Department released numbers showing the U.S trade deficit widening more than expected and auto imports increasing to the highest on record.

Exports were at a five-and-a-half-year low in January and the trade deficit in January was forecasted to widen to $44 billion. It was instead $61.9 billion, Reuters reports.

The January trade gap increased 2.2 percent to $45.7 billion.