U.S. employment accelerated in February and the jobless rate fell to a more than 6-1/2 year low of 5.5 percent, signs that could encourage the Federal Reserve to consider hiking interest rates in June. Nonfarm payrolls rose 295,000 last month after rising 239,000 in January, the Labor Department said on Friday. The data suggested the U.S job market continued to strengthen, although the drop in the jobless rate largely reflected people leaving the labor force. They had forecast the jobless rate falling one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.6 percent.