Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February as the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%.
Consensus among economists was a gain of 150,000 jobs.
Nonfarm employment is down by 2.1 Million, or 1.4%, from pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
Employment in leisure and hospitality added 179,000 jobs, professional and business services increased by 95,000, healthcare rose by 64,000, and transportation and warehousing increased by 48,000 in February.
Construction employment increased by 60,000 jobs in February.
In February, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was little changed at $31.58.
The average workweek for all private employees rose by 0.1 hours to 34.7 hours in February.
The labor force participation rate was little changed at 62.3% in February.