U.S. job gains in February remained robust with jobless rate at 17-year low for five months running.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased 313,000 in February, exceeding market expectation of about 200,000, data from the Labor Department showed on Friday.

The agency revised up job gains in December last year and January this year, with the job gains in these two months 54,000 more than previously reported.

Over the past three months, job gains averaged 242,000, a pace regarded as healthy, as the job market is approaching full employment.

Unemployment rate maintained at 17-year low of 4.1 percent in February, and it has kept at this level for fifth consecutive month.

The labor force participation rate, which shows the share of working-age people in the labor force, rose 0.3 percentage point from the previous month to 63 percent. This is the largest monthly increase since 2010.

Due to more people joining the workforce, the wage growth slowed down in the month. In February, average hourly earnings rose 2.6 percent year on year, slower than the 2.9 percent in January.

Friday's job report might support the Federal Reserve to move up the interest rate later this month. The Fed is scheduled to hold its policy meeting on March 20 and 21.

Fed chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank would continue to gradually tighten the monetary policy, in view of the strong labor market and the soft inflation.