March 5 (Bloomberg) -- The jobless rate in the U.S. held at 9.7 percent in February and employment declined less than forecast, even as severe winter weather forced some employers to temporarily close.

Payrolls dropped 36,000 last month after a revised 26,000 decrease in January, figures from the Labor Department in Washington showed today. Employment fell in construction and increased at temporary-help services.

Blizzards during the week that the government surveys businesses and households on jobs set seasonal snowfall records in cities including Washington and Philadelphia, prompting many Americans to stay home. The economic expansion that began last year has yet to generate sustained gains in employment, raising the risk that the recovery will cool as households keep a lid on spending.

“Without the weather in February this would have been a month for jobs growth,” Ellen Zentner, a senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We’ve got positive jobs growth in there, we just can’t see it” due to the “weather effects.”

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index that expire this month rose 0.6 percent to 1,129.2 at 8:45 a.m. in New York. The 10-year Treasury note fell, pushing up the yield five basis points to 3.65 percent.

Economists’ Forecasts

Payrolls were forecast to decrease by 68,000, according to the median estimate of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from a decline of 150,000 to a gain of 30,000. The jobless rate was projected to increase to 9.8 percent. Forecasts ranged from 9.5 percent to 10.1 percent. The unemployment rate was unchanged even as more people entered the workforce.

One clue about the effect of the weather on employment may come from the survey of households, which the Labor Department uses to calculate the unemployment rate. Today’s report showed 1 million Americans said bad weather prevented them from getting to work during the survey week.

About 290,000 people on average say bad weather has prevented them from getting to work, according to February figures going back three decades.

Federal Reserve

Companies have been reluctant to hire even after the world’s largest economy grew at a 5.9 percent annual rate in the last three months of 2009, the most in six years. The labor market may be slow to recover the 8.4 million jobs lost since the recession began, giving the Federal Reserve scope to keep interest rates low and putting pressure on President Barack Obama and lawmakers to foster job growth.

The so-called underemployment rate -- which includes part- time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking -- rose to 16.8 percent from 16.5 percent.

AMR Corp. is among companies continuing to trim employment, while Caterpillar Inc. and General Motors Co. have announced they will recall some workers dismissed during the depths of the economic slump.

Two storms blanketed parts of the country in early February, the second coming during the week that included the 12th of the month, the government’s survey week. Economists at Macroeconomic Advisers LLC in St. Louis projected the weather would reduce the payroll count by anywhere from 150,000 to 220,000 workers. The drop will probably be reversed this month, they said.

January 1996

The most recent storm of similar intensity that occurred during a survey week was in January 1996. The current data for payrolls that month, which have gone through several revisions since the initial estimate, show a 19,000 drop in employment followed by a gain of 434,000 in February.

Monthly employment gauges that are less influenced by weather point to job-market stability. The Institute for Supply Management’s employment gauge in non-manufacturing businesses, which covers almost 90 percent of the economy, rose to an almost two-year high. The group’s corresponding manufacturing index climbed to the highest level since 2005.

Companies in February cut the fewest jobs in two years, according to data from ADP Employer Services. Similarly, employers last month announced the fewest job cuts in more than three years, according to a report by the job-placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Government Jobs

Today’s report from the Labor Department showed that government payrolls decreased by 18,000 in February. State and local governments reduced employment by 25,000 during the month, while the federal government added 7,000. The increase at the federal level reflected in part the hiring of 15,000 temporary workers to conduct the 2010 census.

The Census Bureau said it will hire 1.15 million temporary workers in the first half of the year to conduct the population count that takes place every 10 years. The program may have the biggest impact on payroll figures in April through June, when the bulk of the hiring will take place, and will then subtract from the job count the following months after the work is done.

Payroll figures for manufacturers, construction firms and retailers are most likely to gauge the extent to which weather affected overall job numbers since those industries are more likely to be influenced by severe storms, economists said. The average work week and weekly earnings were probably affected by the snow, they said before the report.

Hours Worked Fall

The average work week for all workers fell to 33.8 hours in February from 33.9 hours the prior month. The number of part- time workers for economic reasons climbed to 8.8 million in February from 8.3 million the previous month.

Factory payrolls increased 1,000 in February after rising 20,000 in the prior month. The median forecast by economists called for a drop of 15,000.

Payrolls at builders fell 64,000 last month after decreasing 77,000. Financial firms reduced payrolls by 10,000, after a 13,000 decline the prior month.

Service industries, which include banks, insurance companies, restaurants and retailers, added 24,000 workers after an increase of 27,000 in January.

Some companies continue to trim payrolls. American Airlines, the world’s second-largest carrier, said yesterday that it would eliminate jobs of 230 baggage handlers, ramp workers and cargo employees nationwide. The reductions at American, a unit of AMR, will begin March 13, spokeswoman Missy Latham said in an interview.

Accenture Hiring

Other firms are adding workers. Accenture Plc, the world’s second-largest technology-services company, is boosting payrolls by about 50,000 workers, with as many as 9,000 jobs being added in the U.S. by the end of August.

“We are seeing a very broad uplift globally” in demand, John Campagnino, director of worldwide recruiting, said in a March 3 interview. He said the sales trend “brings us right back to the pre-recession” levels.

The number of temporary workers increased 48,000 in February. Payrolls at temporary-help agencies often turn up before total employment because companies prefer to see a steady increase in demand before taking on permanent staff.

Retail payrolls were little changed after a 42,000 gain.

The economy grew at a 5.9 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the biggest gain in six years, according to data from the Commerce Department released last week.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg last month projected the jobless rate will average 9.8 percent in 2010 and end the year at 9.5 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net