Job market still chugging even as economic risks grow

Hiring across the U.S. surged last month as the economy continued to recover from a labor market slowdown caused by the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

Payrolls grew by 678,000 in February, the Labor Department reported on Friday, exceeding analyst forecasts of around 440,000 jobs. That's an increase of 200,000 from the previous month and the strongest month for hiring since October of last year. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8% as more workers found jobs. That is the lowest jobless rate since February of 2020 just before pandemic took hold in the U.S.

"There's very strong levels of demand for workers," Nick Bunker, head of research at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told CBS MoneyWatch.