Payrolls in U.S. Probably Increased Amid Budget Impasse

Payrolls probably grew in February, showing U.S. employers were looking beyond the budget impasse in Washington as sales improved, economists said before reports this week.

Another 160,000 workers were hired last month after employment rose by 157,000 in January, according to the median forecast of 70 economists surveyed by Bloomberg before a March 8 Labor Department report. The jobless rate held at 7.9 percent, the survey showed.