The unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent.
The U.S. economy unexpectedly lost jobs last month, reversing January’s better-than-expected performance, new government data released on March 6 show.
Payrolls declined by 92,000 in February from the previous month’s downwardly revised 126,000 increase, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent.
Economists had forecast nearly 60,000 new jobs and a jobless rate holding steady at 4.3 percent.
“Well, that was ugly,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
Average hourly earnings rose by 0.4 percent monthly and 3.8 percent year over year—higher than consensus estimates.
Social assistance was one of the few industries to record a gain, rising by 9,000.
Health care, which had been the backbone of employment gains over the past several months, lost 28,000 jobs after a spike of 77,000 in January.
Strike activity at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii led to a 37,000-position drop in physicians’ offices. The situation has since been resolved, but the labor disruption occurred during the bureau’s reporting period.
This was partly offset by a 12,000-job increase in hospitals.
The information services sector was hit hard last month by layoffs linked to artificial intelligence. The industry’s payrolls fell by 11,000.
Manufacturing employment was down by 12,000, while payrolls in transportation and warehousing dropped by 11,000.
Federal government employment maintained its downward trajectory, falling by 10,000—fueled by the current administration’s efforts to trim headcount. Since peaking in October 2024, federal payrolls have fallen by 330,000.
The labor force participation rate dipped to 62 percent, the lowest since December 2021. January’s reading was sharply adjusted lower to 62.1 percent from 62.5 percent. Average weekly hours were unchanged at 34.3.
This, says Hamrick, is “a worrying sign that some workers were discouraged amid the softening seen over the past year.”
Revisions were prevalent, with the December and January numbers adjusted lower by a combined 69,000.
Full-time employment levels declined by 110,000, while part-time work fell by 249,000. The number of people working two or more jobs plummeted by 352,000 to 8.371 million.
“After lackluster job gains in 2025, the labor market is coming to a standstill,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times.
“The three-month average is 6,000 and the six-month average is negative for the fourth time in five months. Looking ahead, we should expect the unemployment rate to rise.”
By Andrew Moran
