The overall picture emerging from the Labor Department's report Friday suggested that businesses are in the mood to hire and might be more inclined to reward existing workers or lure new ones with fatter paychecks, economists said.

Employers expanded payrolls by 243,000 jobs in February. That was better than expected and an improvement over the 170,000 in January.

Construction, retail, financial services, health care and education were among the industries seeing employment gains last month. That eclipsed weakness in manufacturing, mostly reflecting job losses in the struggling automotive sector.

Brighter job prospects sent people streaming into the labor market, however, bumping up the unemployment rate to 4.8 percent in February. While that was up slightly from a 4 1/2 year low of 4.7 percent in January, the new unemployment rate still indicated a healthy jobs climate.

"Statistically, that's not a move at all," said Mark Knold, chief economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

Utah will release its February unemployment numbers later this month, but Knold doesn't expect a noticeable change from January's statewide unemployment rate of 3.7 percent. Utah is adding jobs at one of the fastest paces in the nation, up 4.8 percent for the year that ended Jan. 31.

"We should continue to have a pretty robust job growth rate - at least in the mid-4-percent range," Knold said.

The fresh snapshot of labor activity comes as President Bush continues to cope with sagging job-approval ratings. Just 37 percent approve of his overall performance, the lowest level of his presidency, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.

''American workers are defying the pessimists,'' Bush declared. ''Our economy is strong.''

Economists said the employment report and other economic data buttress their belief that the economy has snapped out of an end-of-year funk. Analysts predict the economy is growing at a brisk pace of 4.5 percent or higher in the January-to-March quarter. That would mark an energetic rebound from the lethargic 1.6 percent growth rate logged in the final quarter of last year.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., called the payroll gain in February ''welcome news'' but added: ''The labor market is not yet back to full strength.'' He worried that some workers' paychecks are being stretched thinner by expensive energy bills and health care costs.

Employees' average hourly earnings rose to $16.47 in February, a modest 0.3 percent increase from January. That was in line with economists' expectations.

However, compared with February of last year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.5 percent - the biggest 12-month gain since September 2001.

While wage growth is good for workers, a big pickup in wages - if sustained - can stir fears about inflation among economists and at the Federal Reserve.

To fend off inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are expected to boost short-term interest rates March 28, and probably again May 10. The March meeting will be Bernanke's first as Fed chief. The central bank under former Chairman Alan Greenspan has been tightening credit since June 2004.

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Tribune reporter Rosemary Winters contributed to this story.