There were 236,000 jobs added to payrolls in February — many more than expected — and the jobless rate unexpectedly dropped by two-tenths of a point, to 7.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

The news came as a surprise to most economists. As we reported earlier, they had been expecting to hear that employers added about 160,000 jobs to payrolls and that the unemployment rate stayed near January's 7.9 percent. Read More!