US unemployment better-than-expected

Since the start of the recession 8.4 million Americans have lost their jobs

US employers shed fewer jobs than expected in February, cutting 36,000 jobs. This was better than the 50,000 analysts had been expecting.

Last month's unemployment rate stayed steady at 9.7%, the same as in January, and lower than December's rate of 10%.

Employment in the construction and government sectors fell, while there were more jobs for temporary workers.

The Labor Department said it was unclear how much the severe snow storms had affected hiring and firing.

US markets opened slightly higher at the opening, up 0.6% at 10,501.28

There are currently around 14.9 million unemployed people in the US and about 40% of these have been out of work for 27 weeks or more.

The average number of hours worked in February slipped a little to 33.8 hours from 33.9 in January.

"There appears to be some semblance of underlying improvement, but it's wrong to say it's buoyant," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, employment has fallen by 8.4 million, but recent US economic data has been improving gradually.

On Wednesday the Federal Reserve's influential Beige Book report said the US economy had continued to grow at a "modest" pace this year.

In the last three months of 2009, the US economy grew at an annualised rate of 5.9%.