Employers add 275K jobs in February, including 1K in accounting

Employment increased by 275,000 jobs in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, surpassing economists' expectations. But the unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a point to 3.9% and the BLS revised downward the job numbers for December and January, indicating some softening in the labor market.

Nevertheless, the 275,000 jobs added in February exceeded the average monthly gain of 230,000 over the prior 12 months. Last month, job gains mainly occurred in health care, government, food services and drinking places, social assistance, transportation and warehousing. The professional and business services sector added 9,000 jobs, including 1,000 in accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services.

Average hourly earnings edged up by 5 cents in February to $34.57, after an increase of 18 cents in January. Average hourly earnings were up by 0.1% in February and 4.3% over the year.

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The BLS revised the job numbers for December and January downward. December's number was revised down by 43,000, from a gain of 333,000 jobs to 290,000, and the change for January was revised down by 124,000, from 353,000 jobs to 229,000. With both revisions, employment in December and January combined was 167,000 lower than previously reported. 

President Biden boasted about his economic record during his State of the Union address Thursday night. "I inherited an economy that was on the brink," he said. "Now our economy is the envy of the world! 15 million new jobs in just three years — that's a record! Unemployment at 50-year lows. A record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses and each one is an act of hope."

However, the number of accountants is still far short of what's needed. The 1,000 jobs added in accounting, tax prep, bookkeeping and payroll services in February is below the 4,100 reported in January (or 5,000 after the adjustment). The accounting profession has lost about 340,000 jobs in recent years, with over 300,000 accountants quitting their jobs between 2019 and 2021, according to BLS figures, a 17% decline.

"There's obviously the pipeline issues and not enough students going into accounting degree programs, but there also aren't enough seasoned professionals to go around," said Massachusetts Society of CPAs CEO Zach Donah in an interview last week. "I think that's probably the most consistent thing we hear is the elusive three- to seven-year professional that everyone's looking for, and the other challenge is just keeping up with skills and reskilling current staff and upskilling traditional accounting professionals. Like other organizations, we're really trying to attack the workforce challenge from a bunch of different perspectives."