Jobless Rate Dips To 5.8%: But Jobs Are Scarcer; Prices Rise
Unemployment receded from 6.0 to 5.8 per cent in February ÛÓ the second straight monthly decline and a pleasant surprise for Nixon administration economists, who had warned of some possible further increase from the nine-year peak of 6.2 per cent in December.</br></br>The monthly employment report issued yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics had its somber side, however.</br></br>While the jobless total fell 185,000 after seasonal adjustment, employment also: dropped. There were 325,000; fewer jobs than in January on an adjusted basis and 225,000 fewer than a year ago.</br></br>The average work week also declined by 0.2 hours, largely offsetting the effect of a penny increase in hourly wages (to $3.34) on weekly earnings.</br></br>Unemployment continued to rise among professional and technical workers, and there was no improvement among blacks.