It’s being reported this morning that the US lost 92,000 jobs in February, and both December and January were revised to a collective 69,000 jobs lower than they were reported at the time.
Unemployment also went up .1 to 4.4%.
Here’s more from CNBC:
Rough headline for jobs report.The U.S. economy lost jobs in February, a month marred by severe winter weather and a strike at a major health care provider, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 for the month, compared to the estimate for 50,000 and below the downwardly revised January total of 126,000. February marked the third time in the past five months that payrolls declined, following a sharp revision showing a drop of 17,000 in December.
At the same time, the unemployment rate edged higher to 4.4% as jobs declined across key areas. A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons moved lower, at 7.9% or 0.2 percentage point below the January level.
Health care, the primary growth driver in payrolls, saw a loss of 28,000 due largely to a strike at Kaiser Permanente that sidelined more than 30,000 workers in Hawaii and California. Though the strike has since been resolved, it occurred during the BLS survey week so it subtracted from the jobs total.
While the jobs picture was weak, wages rose more than expected. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4% for the month and 3.8% from a year ago, both 0.1 percentage point above forecast.
“I think it just tells us that the hopes that the labor market was steadying, maybe that was too much,” Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, told CNBC. “We also have inflation printing above target and oil prices rising. How long they last, we don’t know, but both of our goals are in our risks now.”
92k jobs lost in February, big miss from +59k expected. December & January revised to 69k lower than previously reported.
BUT –
Data shows foreign born workers have lost 519,000 jobs over the last year, while native born workers have gained 128k jobs.
Additionally, federal government employment decreased by 10K in February, and is down by 330K, or 11%, since reaching a peak in October 2024.
Healthcare employment dropped by 28,000 in February after a huge increase in January (+77,000).
Offices of physicians lost 37,000 jobs in February (primarily due to strike activity).
Manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs in February. Manufacturing down 98,000 jobs since Feb 2025.
With all the deportations (voluntary and involuntary) and firing of employees from the federal government, it’s not really shocking that the jobs market continues to go up and down. Although at some point I hope it stabilizes with upward trends.