Economy adds 273K jobs in February, beating expectations amid coronavirus fears

The U.S. economy added 273,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported Friday, exceeding analysts' expectations amid growing concerns that the deadly coronavirus will increasingly hurt the global marketplace. 

According to MarketWatch, analysts were expecting a gain of about 165,000 more jobs. However, analysts also point out the hirings occurred before the virus out break in the United States. 

The Labor Department also reported that the unemployment rate fell last month to 3.5% last month, which matches a 50-year low and slight drop from 3.6% in January.