US employment jumps in Febuary, adds 242,000 jobs

U.S. employment gains surged in February, the clearest sign yet of labor market strength that could further ease fears the economy was heading into recession and allow the Federal Reserve to gradually raise interest rates this year.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 242,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. The unemployment rate held at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent even as more people piled into the labor market.

“This is the best news the Fed could have expected going into the meeting. With jobs bouncing back, you can be sure that rate hikes are just around the corner,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York.

The economy added 30,000 more jobs in December and January than previously reported. The only blemish in the report was a three-cent drop in average hourly earnings, but that was mostly because of a calendar quirk.

The average length of the workweek also fell last month.

Economists had forecast employment increasing by 190,000 last month and the jobless rate holding steady.

The employment report added to data such as consumer and business spending in suggesting the economy had regained momentum after growth slowed to a 1.0 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. Growth estimates for the first quarter are around a 2.5 percent rate.

Fears of a recession in the wake of poor economic reports in December and slowing growth in China sparked a global stock market rout at the start of the year, causing financial market conditions to tighten.

Financial markets have priced out bets of a rate rise at the Fed’s March 15-16 policy meeting and see a roughly 50 percent chance of a hike at the September and November meetings, according to CME FedWatch.

Economists, however, believe the strong jobs market and improved growth outlook, together with signs that inflation is creeping up, could prompt the Fed to lift borrowing costs in June.

The Fed raised its key overnight interest rate in December for the first time in nearly a decade.

Prices of U.S. Treasuries fell after the data, while U.S. stock index futures rose. The U.S. dollar gained against the euro and hit session highs against the yen and Swiss franc.

Slower wage growth

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said the economy needs to create just under 100,000 jobs a month to keep up with growth in the working-age population.

The labor force participation rate, or the share of working-age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, increased two-tenths of a percentage point to 62.9 percent, the highest level in just over a year.

Adding to the report’s strength, a broad measure of joblessness that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 9.7 percent.

The employment-to-population ratio also increased to 59.8 percent last month, the highest since April 2009, from 59.6 percent in January.

While wage growth weakened in February, it was largely payback for January’s jump, which was driven by a calendar quirk. Growth in wages is seen accelerating as the labor market settles into full employment.

The drop in average hourly earnings lowered the year-on-year gain in earnings to 2.2 percent from 2.5 percent in January. The average workweek fell to 34.4 hours from 34.6 hours in January.

In February, job gains were almost broad-based, though manufacturing and mining employment fell. The services sector created 245,000 jobs after adding 153,000 jobs in January. Mining lost a further 18,000 jobs after shedding 9,000 positions in January.

Mining payrolls have declined by 171,000 jobs since peaking in September 2014, with three-fourths of the losses in support activities. More losses are likely after oilfield services provider Halliburton Co said last month it would cut a further 5,000 jobs because of a prolonged slump in oil prices.

Manufacturing employment lost 16,000 jobs, reversing some of January’s surprise increase. Private education jobs rebounded after plunging in January. Construction payrolls increased 19,000 and government added 12,000 jobs.

Torres slams Uefa after red card against Barcelona

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres says hit out at Uefa after being sent off against Barcelona, suggesting referee Felix Brych was not ready for such a big game.

Torres was given his marching orders after picking up two yellow cards in the first half at Camp Nou, with defending champions Barca eventually emerging 2-1 victors against 10 men.

The former Liverpool striker took responsibility for his side's defeat but accused Uefa of being more interested in potential kit clashes - with both sides wearing their away strip on the night - than competent refereeing.

"It's a shame that UEFA are so preoccupied with changing our kits and putting a referee that has failed to be at the level of a Champions League quarter-final," Torres told reporters after the match.

I was unhappy when I got to Kenya - Mike Ezuruonye

Celebrated Nigerian actor Mike Ezuruonye has said he was surprised when he arrived in Kenya and realized that the country has much more to offer than just the Maasai culture and great athletes.

Mike says the predominant perception held by the international community is that Kenya is a land inhabited by members of the Maasai community and medal-winning runners – and that when he got to have a real feel of what Kenya has to offer, he was “saddened” by the fallacious stereotype.

The actor, who was in the country for a three-day location and talent scouting exercise, spoke to Citizen Television’s Lillian Muli on Friday when he made his revelation.

“I am so elated being here (Kenya), but at the same time when I came, I was sad. Sad because Kenya hasn’t been shown as what Kenya truly is to the world,” the gifted actor explained.

In the same breath, he challenged the government to promote a more holistic picture of the country.

“And this is a challenge to the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Culture and Tourism; you are losing a lot with regards to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If you go outside and think of Kenya; what comes to the minds of people is the Maasai people or the athletes – that’s it. But Kenya is way beyond that, you people have a lot of infrastructure,” Mike said.

The actor was so taken by the overall experience he had that he expressed a willingness to portray the “complete picture” of Kenya: “If I had the opportunity I would showcase to the world what Kenya truly is.”

During his visit to Kenya over the weekend, Mike, who was accompanied by film director Charles Uwagbai, met a number of Kenyan actresses and actors.

He also made a courtesy call to Governor Evans Kidero’s office and visited a possible movie location in Namanga, Kajiado County.

This was Mike Ezuruonye’s second trip to Kenya, with his first tour of the country being five years ago.

Man pours groundnut soup and paint on police officers

A 31-year-old man who poured groundnut soup and paint on two police officers in an attempt to escape arrest is to be put before court for assault.

According to the Police, Umar Mohammed who is involved in a stealing case at Okorase, a suburb of Koforidua, was said to have poured the soup and the paint on the two officers last Saturday when they tried to arrest him for the crime.

The Police say Mohammed on seeing the officers – Sgt. Eunice Ankrah and Const. SibichanDacosta – “became offended, resisted arrest and poured groundnut soup he had prepared and a white oil paint on the two officers”.

Eastern Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, ASP Yaw Nketia-Yeboah in a statement Monday said notwithstanding, Mohammed was overpowered by the officers who arrested him.

Two ex-LA airport baggage handlers arrested on drug trafficking charges...!!!

Two former baggage handlers who prosecutors say used their security identifications to help a nationwide drug ring smuggle "samples" of cocaine through Los Angeles International Airport were arrested on drug trafficking charges on Monday.

Adrian Ponce, 27, and Alberto Preciado Gutierrez, 26, were each charged in federal court in Los Angeles with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said.

"These defendants are charged with abusing their privileged access on behalf of drug dealers," Decker said in a statement. "This case is yet another example of employees associated with airports assisting drug traffickers."

According to prosecutors, Ponce and Preciado are accused of helping couriers smuggle one-kilogram (2.2 lbs) "samples" of cocaine onto commercial airliners at LAX to distribute to customers on the East Coast.

Law enforcement agents seized a kilogram from Preciado in December as he was delivering it to an alleged drug courier in an LAX terminal restroom, prosecutors said.

Under questioning by law enforcement officers, Ponce, who had been waiting for Preciado outside the terminal, admitted to working with a large-scale drug supplier, according to prosecutors

Ponce told authorities that Preciado would typically give the samples to couriers once they had passed through normal airport security, prosecutors said. If the East Coast customers approved of the samples, 100-kilogram shipments would be delivered by the drug ring using trucks driven across the country.

If convicted of the charges, both men face 10 years to life in federal prison.

In March a JetBlue flight attendant who ran from an LAX terminal moments before a search of her luggage turned up 66 pounds (30 kg) of cocaine was arrested in New York. Marsha Reynolds, 31, was charged with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute the drug.

Pillow Fight Day Observed Worldwide

US overtakes France as Germany’s largest trading partner

The United States overtook France to become Germany's most important trading partner last year for the first time in 40 years, official data showed on Wednesday.

The development, which had already started to become discernible in the middle of last year, was confirmed by provisional data published by the federal statistics office Destatis: for the first time since 1975, France is no longer Germany's biggest trading partner.

Exchange rate fluctuations and the vigour of the US economy are largely behind the change in ranking.

But the development appears to carry special political resonance at a time when Europe is fighting to hold together against the backdrop of the refugee crisis.

France has always been seen as Germany's primary trading partner in the past, underlining the close political and economic ties between Europe's number one and number two economies.

But the weakness of the euro against the dollar and the pick-up in the US economy has boosted Germany's transatlantic trade.

"According to provisional data, goods worth a total 173.2 billion euros ($188 billion) changed hands between Germany and the US in 2015," the federal statistics office Destatis calculated.

"That meant the US was Germany's most important trading partner in 2015, followed by France with 170.1 billion euros worth of goods and the Netherlands with 167.6 billion euros," the statement said.

In terms of exports, the US was the biggest foreign buyer of German-made goods in 2015, with exports amounting to 113.9 billion euros last year.

Exports to France, the country to which Germany has exported the most every year since 1961, amounted to 103 billion euros.

The United Arab Emirates followed in third place, with exports totalling 89.3 billion euros.

On the import side, Germany imported the most goods from China last year -- 91.5 billion euros in all.

The Netherlands and France followed in second and third places with imports of 88.1 billion euros and 67 billion euros respectively, Destatis calculated.

'Long-term phenomenon'

Anton Boerner, president of the German exporters' federation BGA, saw the development as a "turning point, a long-term phenomenon," even if France would definitely remain "a very important partner, and politically the most important one" for Germany.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to travel to Paris on Friday to meet with President Francois Hollande, ahead of a crucial EU summit on refugees next week.

For France, Germany remains its biggest trading partner, with 16 percent of French exports destined for its European neighbour and 17 percent of its imports coming from the other side of the Rhine.

But in the US, the economic upturn there has led to a rise in demand for German-made goods, with chemical exports to the US rising by 10 percent, machinery exports up 12 percent, cars and car parts up 23 percent.

The US has even overtaken China as the biggest customer for machine tools made in Germany, said Ralf Wiechers, economist of the specialist industry federation VDMA.

The machine tool sector accounts for nearly 10 percent of all German exports and France remains the number three customer.

"But we're starting to worry about the tissue of French industry," said Wiechers.

"For years now, France has pursued an industrial policy favouring large companies" and that has eroded the base of dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises.

The health of Europe's two biggest economies also diverges profoundly in terms of competitiveness, trade balance and public finances.