US adds 236K jobs, unemployment falls to 7.7 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A burst of hiring last month added 236,000 U.S. jobs and reduced the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent in January. The robust gains suggested that the economy can strengthen further despite higher taxes and government spending cuts.

The February jobs report issued today provided encouraging details: The unemployment rate is at its lowest level in four years. Job growth has averaged more than 200,000 a month since November. Wages rose. And the job gains were broad-based, led by the most construction hiring in six years.

The unemployment rate had been stuck at 7.8 percent or above since September. The rate declined last month because the number of unemployed fell 300,000 to just over 12 million, the fewest since December 2008.

More than half the decline occurred because 170,000 of the unemployed found jobs. An additional 130,000 stopped looking for work. People who aren't looking for jobs aren't counted as unemployed.

The unemployment rate is calculated from a survey of households. The job gains are derived from a separate survey of employers.