US adds a strong 242,000 jobs; rate holds at low 4.9 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a robust 242,000 workers in February as retailers, restaurants and health care providers drove another solid month for the resilient American job market. The unemployment rate held steady at a low 4.9 percent.

The Labor Department today also revised up its estimated job growth for December and January by a combined 30,000. Over the past three months, U.S. employers have added a strong 228,000 to their payrolls.

The pickup in job gains shows that the U.S. economy has weathered a global economic slowdown without suffering much blowback. Worker pay did slip last month after having picked up in January. But more Americans who had been sitting on the sidelines began searching for jobs last month and found them.

Employers expect solid consumer demand in the months ahead even though the stock market has turned turbulent, oil prices have hurt energy industry jobs and a stronger dollar has reduced export sales.

Retailers added 54,900 jobs last month. Restaurants and bars added 40,200. The health care sector hired 38,100.

Hiring by construction companies, retailers and health care providers has offset layoffs at manufacturers and fossil fuel companies — two sectors squeezed by the pressures of uncertainty in China, sluggishness in Europe, declining oil prices and a stronger dollar.