RJ and Makay

Just when it seemed the economic recovery might sputter, the jobs market delivered some welcome news. According to the Labor Department, hiring rebounded in February, pushing unemployment down to 8.9% — the first time the jobless rate has been under 9% in nearly two years.

The improvement reflects a rise in nonfarm payrolls of 192,000 last month as private-sector employers added 222,000 jobs. There were private-sector job gains in January, too, says the Labor Department, which upwardly revised its estimate of the number of jobs added in January to 63,000 from 36,000.