Hiring in the United States was robust in February although unemployment crept up, government data showed Friday, a potentially encouraging sign for policymakers hoping to cool the economy without tipping it into a downturn.

Officials have been walking a fine line trying to bring down inflation by raising interest rates without triggering a damaging downturn.

While analysts believed the United States could enter a recession last year, the economy defied these predictions, and a surprisingly resilient labor market has helped to support growth.

The world's biggest economy added 275,000 jobs last month, in an unexpected pickup after January's figure was revised significantly lower, according to the latest Department of Labor data.

A "soft landing" for the economy would be positive news for President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection in November.

But the jobless rate rose slightly to 3.9 percent.

In another encouraging sign that the economy is cooling, wage growth edged down as well, from 0.5 percent in January to 0.1 percent in February on a monthly basis.

Compared with the same period a year ago, average hourly earnings were up 4.3 percent, a slightly lower reading than January as well, Labor Department figures showed.