Some months, I wish the BLS’ Employment Situation Report had a face, just so I could punch it. (Who’s with me? Anyone?)

February, however, was not one of those months…

Because not only did the economy add a significant 192,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate fell to its lowest rate in two years: 8.9 percent.

It’s worth noting that these numbers are still far below the 300,000 jobs needed in order to see a significant difference in the unemployment rate; however, we did surpass the 150,000 needed in order to keep pace with the population growth.

In other words, today’s report might not exactly be Oprah-Winfrey-giving-us-each-a-new-car good news, but considering where we were last month, I’d say it’s at least Oscar-winner-Colin-Firth-makes-a-surprise-appearance-on-today’s-Ellen exciting. (Or as FAO economist Robert Brusca succinctly puts it: “short of ebullient but good enough”). Who’s with me?

Here are some more findings from February’s report:

• In what was one of the report’s darker findings, state and local government cut 30,000 jobs, while federal government hiring was flat.
• Private employers, however, added 222,000 jobs – the most since April.
• The number of unemployed persons, decreased slightly from 13.9 million in January to 13.7 million in February, and the unemployment rate fell from 9 percent to 8.9 percent.
• Hiring increased across several industries, with manufacturing and construction both adding 33,000 jobs in February; while professional and business services added 47,000 jobs. Health care employment increased with 34,000 new jobs, as did transportation and warehousing employment with 22,000.
• The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.2 hours, and average hourly earnings increased by 1 cent to $22.87.

And even more good news, the BLS revised January’s numbers for total nonfarm payroll employment from a seriously dismal 36,000 jobs added to a merely pathetic 63,000 jobs added.

Thoughts? Leave them in the comments section below!