WASHINGTON: US employers added 97,000 jobs in February, the Labour Department reported on Friday, suggesting the world's biggest economy is still expanding despite weakness in the housing and auto sectors.

The Labour Department figure on non-farm payrolls, seen as one of the best indicators of economic activity, was in line with expectations and appeared to suggest continued growth, albeit slower than last year's pace.

The figure, in line with Wall Street forecasts, was the weakest since January 2005.

But the agency revised upward its estimates for January to show 146,000 new jobs instead of 111,000 and 226,000 in December from 206,000.

The unemployment rate, taken from a separate survey of households, dipped to 4.5 per cent of the active population from 4.6 per cent.

“If you look at just the private sector, there were only private sector 58,000 jobs, which is not that strong,” she said.

“But this is somewhat of a relief because expectations were being ratcheted down. It provides some comfort the job market remains strong.”—AFP