News Hour (PBS) | March 4, 2011

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG1KqPcTUDw

(Associated Press)  WASHINGTON  — The unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent — a nearly two-year low after the government added 192,000 jobs last month. Federal government hiring was flat.

African-American unemployment dipped to 15.3, while black teen unemployment declined sharply to 38.4 percent, but remains the highest of any group.

Private employers added 222,000 jobs last month, the most since April. That shows that companies are feeling more confident in the economy and about their own financial prospects. And it bolstered hopes that businesses will shift into a more aggressively hiring mode and boost the economic recovery.

The unemployment rate is now at the lowest point since April 2009. It has been falling for three months, down from 9.8 percent in November, marking the sharpest three-month decline since 1983.  (Read more)