February jobs report: U.S. adds a whopping 273K jobs, unemployment rate unexpectedly falls to 3.5%

The February jobs report reflected much better than expected job gains and an unemployment rate back at a 50-year low, before the coronavirus outbreak escalated and threatened to weigh on economic activity.

The Labor Department released its February jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday. Here were the main results from the report, compared to consensus expectations compiled by Bloomberg:

Change in non-farm payrolls: +273,000 vs. +175,000 expected and 273,000 in January

Unemployment rate: 3.5% vs. 3.6% expected and 3.6% in January

Avg. hourly earnings, month on month: +0.3% vs....