The US added 311,000 nonfarm jobs in February while the number of temporary jobs rose by 6,800, according to seasonally adjusted data released today from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The temp penetration rate — the percent of total jobs that are temporary — was unchanged in February from January at 1.97%.

Jobs rose even as the US unemployment rate edged up to 3.6% in February from 3.4% in January; however, the college-level unemployment rate held steady at 2.0%.

The BLS also noted the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in February.

“With declining average weekly hours and an uptick in unemployment rate, today’s jobs report indicates a continuation of the pattern of gradual softening in the US labor market,” said Timothy Landhuis, VP of research at Staffing Industry Analysts. “That said, by historical measures, the labor market remains very robust, and the uptick in labor participation rate is particularly welcome news for the economy and for the staffing industry.”

February’s nonfarm payroll increase of 311,000 in February compares to the average monthly gain of 343,000 over the prior six months. Because of revisions in data, total job gains in December and January were revised down by 34,000 while temporary help services jobs gains were revised down by 24,700.

Year over year, the number of temp jobs was down 2.82%.

Notable job gains in February occurred in leisure and hospitality, retail trade, government and healthcare. Leisure and hospitality added 105,000 jobs in February and retail trade added 50,000 jobs. The number of government jobs increased by 46,000 and healthcare added 44,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, notable declines occurred in information and in transportation and warehousing. Jobs in information fell by 25,000, while jobs in transportation and warehousing fell by 21,500.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by eight cents, or 0.2%, to $33.09. Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.6%.

A full report by the SIA research team is available here.