The job market slowed last month, but it's still too hot to ease inflation fears

Hiring cooled last month from its sizzling pace in January, but the U.S. job market remains unusually hot, with an unemployment rate hovering near a half-century low.

Employers added 311,000 jobs in February, according to a report from the Labor Department Friday that will be closely studied by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed was alarmed by an earlier report showing more than half a million jobs were added in January. The central bank worries that an overheated job market could put more upward pressure on inflation.