WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs in February to complete three of the best months of hiring since the recession began. The unemployment rate was unchanged, largely because more people streamed into the work force.

The Labor Department said today that the unemployment rate stayed at 8.3 percent last month, the lowest in three years.

And hiring in January and December was better than first thought. The government revised those figures to show 61,000 in additional jobs.

The economy has now generated an average of 245,000 jobs in the past three months. The only stretch better since the recession began was in early 2010.

That bodes well for President Barack Obama’s re-election chances, although he’s still likely to face the highest unemployment rate of any post-war president.

Stock futures rose slightly after the report was released. Dow Jones industrial average futures, which were up 10 points before the report, added 10 points when it came out. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures were up one point before the report and tacked on two.

Last month’s hiring was broad-based and in both highpaying and lower- paying industries. Manufacturing, mining, and professional services, such as accounting, all added jobs.

Governments at all levels cut only 6,000 jobs in February and 1,000 in January, after a revision. That’s a welcome change from the heavy layoffs by cashstrapped states and cities over the past two years. Last year alone they cut an average of 22,000 jobs per month.