The U.S. economy added 262,000 jobs in February, the largest increase since October 2004 and twice as many as were added in January, according to the Labor Department. The increase was a welcome change to the continuing stagnant labor market that has never really regained its steam since the recession in 2001. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), there are only 332,000 more payroll jobs currently than at the start of the recession in March 2001. That 0.3% increase is the worst recovery record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping records in 1939. EPI finds that "In the three downturns since the early 1970s, the economy had not only recovered all the jobs lost during the recession but had also generated 6.0% more jobs (6.1% more private-sector jobs) than existed at the start of the recession. If this historical standard had prevailed in the private sector, the economy would have 7,282,000 more private-sector jobs today." Despite the solid increase in February, the unemployment rate bumped up two percentage points to 5.4%. Another disappointing sign was that hourly wages of typical workers remained at the same levels at January at $15.90 per hour. When inflation is taken into account, wages have decreased. New York Times article EPI report