WASHINGTON — Hiring in the United States jumped in February as employers added 273,000 positions, evidence that the job market was in strong shape before the coronavirus began to sweep through the nation.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% last month, matching a 50-year low, down from 3.6% in January.

The monthly job gain comes from a survey of payrolls done in the second week of February, predating the viral outbreak. Still, many economists were encouraged by the message that the jobs report sent about the economy’s health before the disease.

“The U.S. economy clearly approached the COVID-19 shock with a head of steam, which is good news,” said Neil Dutta, an economist at investment strategy firm Renaissance Macro Research. “You want to be in a position of strength when a crisis hits.”

So far, there are few signs that the job market has been affected by the disease, but most economists expect hiring to slow in the coming months. Businesses are restricting business travel, factories are facing supply disruptions from manufacturing shutdowns in China and some Americans are delaying vacations.

“The outbreak will likely lead (businesses) to postpone some hiring plans or even shed jobs if the situation worsens,” said Lydia Boussour, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

Wage growth slowed slightly in February, rising 3% compared with a year earlier, down from a 3.1% year-over-year average gain in January. Paychecks have grown at a 3% pace or higher for more than a year and a half but have slowed since reaching 3.5% last summer.

The government on Friday also upgraded its estimate of job growth in December and January by a combined 85,000 more than it had previously reported. Over the past three months, U.S. employers have added 243,000 jobs — the best quarterly pace since September 2016.

Unseasonably warm weather in February likely boosted hiring in the construction industry, which added 42,000 jobs, and hotels and restaurants, which gained nearly 50,000.

Manufacturing added 15,000, reversing a sharp loss in January. The gain may not be replicated in the coming months because of supply chain disruptions in China. Last month’s totals include 7,000 temporary Census jobs that were created to help compile the 2020 count.