(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 6 mar - The US economy remains really strong despite February's weaker-than-expected jobs report, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC.

"There have been so many strong indicators this month that it's something of a surprise," Hassett said in an interview.

Earlier today the February payrolls report unexpectedly fell by 92,000, easily missing expectations for a rise of 55,000.

The unemployment rate also rose to 4.4% from 4.3% the previous month.

Hassett pointed to factors impacting the payrolls data, including weather, strikes on the West Coast, and the Birth Death Model, a statistical procedure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On the jobs numbers, he said "we need to take the average over a few months", adding "on average it's about what we expect to be seeing".

"I think it's consistent with everything else we're seeing,.

which is that the economy is really strong."

(RADIOCOR) 06-03-26 16:58:07 (0472) 5 NNNN