farm employment in the United States increased by 379,000 in February, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The figure exceeded expectations which hovered at around 200,000. The unemployment rate was little changed compared to the previous month at 6.2%, as well as the number of unemployed persons, at 10 million. The number of persons on temporary layoff fell by 517,000 in February to 2.2 million, although it is still 1.5 million higher on a yearly basis. The number of long-term unemployed was reported at 4.1 million, little changed from January, but up by 3 million over the year. The labor force participation rate remained at 61.4% in February.