WASHINGTON (Fox News): The U.S. economy added 379,000 jobs in February, evidence the labor market’s recovery is gaining steam nearly one year into the pandemic as coronavirus caseloads fall nationwide and many states ease restrictions on business activity.

The unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.2% — well below the April peak of 14.7%, but about twice the pre-crisis level, the Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report, released Friday. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected the report to show that unemployment remained unchanged at 6.3% and the economy added 182,000 jobs.

In total, the U.S. has recovered roughly half of the 22 million jobs lost during the first two months of the pandemic. There are still about 9.5 million more Americans out of work than there one year ago, before the crisis began, the report shows. Economists

After a sharp contraction in March and April, the labor market quickly rebounded, adding 9.3 million jobs in the span of just three months. But since then, job growth has cooled dramatically each month, with economists increasingly warning that the recovery could plateau — or reverse itself.