Manufacturing added 20,000 jobs in February

According the Labor Department, U.S. employers added 262,000 jobs in February, including 20,000 manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing's gains followed five consecutive months of job loss. However, the job gains were outpaced by the rising numbers of job seekers, and the unemployment rate grew to 5.4 percent, up from 5.2 percent in January.

February's gains were stronger than the 225,000 jobs economists predicted. January's growth of 132,000 jobs fell short of the 146,000 increase originally reported.