thousands of jobs were lost
By Paul Wiseman and Anne D’Innocenszio AP Business Writers
Washington (AP) — American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. The unemployment rate blipped up to 4.4%.
Hiring deteriorated from January, when companies, nonprofits and government agencies added a healthy 126,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February.
Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.
The surprisingly weak employment picture in February adds to the economic uncertainty over the war with Iran, which has caused oil prices to surge and saddled business and consumers with unforeseen costs.
“The job market is struggling in the face of so many headwinds,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Companies are going to be even more reluctant to hire this spring until the war ends and they can see consumers still spending. It’s a tense time for the U.S. economy.”
The job market had been expected to rebound this year from a lackluster 2025 when it was buffeted by President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policies, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates. In 2025, employers added just 15,000 jobs a month. Hopes for a 2026 rebound rose after January hiring came in above expectations.
thousands of jobs were lost
“Just when it looked like the labor market was stabilizing, this report delivers a knock-down blow to that view,” said Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economics at Fitch Ratings. ”It’s bad news whichever way you look at it.”
The job losses were widespread.
Construction companies cut 11,000 jobs last month, which likely reflects frigid weather. And healthcare firms shed 28,000 jobs after a four-week strike by more than 30,000 nurses and other front-line workers at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii. Health care has been one of the job market’s strong points.
Factories cut 12,000 jobs and have now lost jobs for 14 of the last 15 months. Restaurants and bars lost nearly 30,000 jobs. Administrative and support services firms cut nearly 19,000 jobs and courier and messenger services almost 17,000.
Financial firms added 10,000 jobs, though job cuts continue to hit that sector as well this year.
Average hourly wages rose 0.4% from January and 3.8% from a year earlier.
The outlook for the job market – and the entire economy – is clouded by the war with Iran.
The combination of weak hiring and increasing inflationary pressures arising from the war creates a nightmare for the Federal Reserve, which must decide whether to cut interest rates to help the job market or hold off to help keep a lid on prices. “This is probably the worst scenario for monetary policy,″ said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.
thousands of jobs were lost
Employers were reluctant to hire last year because of uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs – and the unpredictable way he rolled them out.
The impact of Trump’s aggressive trade policies may recede in 2026. His import taxes became smaller and less erratic after he reached a trade truce last year with China and deals with leading U.S. trade partners such as Japan and the European Union. A lot of businesses have also learned how to offset the costs of the tariffs, often by passing them along to customers via higher prices.
Brian Bethune, an economist at Boston College, said that Trump’s 2025 tariffs were a shock to companies’ business plans. Now, just as they’ve adjusted to them, “Guess what! All of a sudden their 2026 business plans are upended by an increase in fuel costs’’ caused by the war with Iran.
Jay Foreman, CEO of the toy company Basic Fun, expects to get some relief from Trump’s tariffs after the Supreme Court last month struck down the biggest ones and potentially created a path for importers to get refunds for the levies they paid. The refunds would allow Foreman to invest more in his Boca Raton, Florida, company, which makes Lincoln Logs and Care Bears. He can also hand out more generous raises to employees and hire new people.
“We are expecting a record year,’’ he said.
Yet under new tariffs sought by Trump, Foreman estimates that Basic Fun’s tariff bill will more than double this year to $15 million. That is partly because the firm will be paying for a full year of Trump tariffs in 2026. Tariffs last year were not rolled out until spring or later.
AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this report.
Anne D’Innocenzio reported from New York.
Employment Situation Summary
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in February, and the unemployment rate
changed little at 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment
in health care decreased, reflecting strike activity. Employment in information and federal
government continued to trend down.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures
labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment
survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information
about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical
Note.
Household Survey Data
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.6
million, changed little in February. (See table A-1. See the note at the end of this news
release and tables A and B for more information about the annual population adjustments to the
household survey estimates.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult women
(4.1 percent), teenagers (14.9 percent), and people who are White (3.7 percent), Black (7.7
percent), Asian (4.8 percent), or Hispanic (5.2 percent) showed little or no change in
February. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.9
million in February but is up from 1.5 million a year earlier. The long-term unemployed
accounted for 25.3 percent of all unemployed people in February. (See table A-12.)
Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.0 percent, and the employment-population ratio,
at 59.3 percent, changed little in February. These measures showed little change over the
year, after accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls. (See table A-1.
For additional information about the effects of the population adjustments, see the note at
the end of this news release and table B.)
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 477,000 to 4.4
million in February. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were
working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time
jobs. (See table A-8.)
The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job changed little in
February at 6.0 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were
not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to
take a job. (See table A-1.)
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached
to the labor force changed little at 1.6 million in February. These individuals wanted and
were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not
looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a
subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, decreased
by 109,000 in February to 366,000. (See Summary table A.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in February, following an increase in
January (+126,000). Employment in health care decreased in February, reflecting strike
activity. Employment in information and federal government continued to trend down. Payroll
employment changed little on net in 2025. (See table B-1.)
Health care employment declined by 28,000 in February, following a large increase in January
(+77,000). Offices of physicians lost 37,000 jobs in February, primarily due to strike
activity. Hospitals added 12,000 jobs. Over the prior 12 months, health care had added an
average of 36,000 jobs per month.
Employment in information continued to trend down in February (-11,000). The industry had lost
an average of 5,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months.
In February, federal government employment continued to decline (-10,000). Since reaching a
peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 330,000, or 11.0 percent.
Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend in February (+9,000), driven by
individual and family services (+12,000).
Transportation and warehousing employment changed little in February (-11,000). A job loss in
couriers and messengers (-17,000) was partially offset by a gain in air transportation
(+5,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing has declined by 157,000, or 2.4
percent, since reaching a peak in February 2025.
Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining,
quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail
trade; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and
other services.
In February, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 15
cents, or 0.4 percent, to $37.32. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 3.8 percent. In February, average hourly earnings of private-sector production
and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.03. (See tables B-3 and
B-8.)
In February, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged
at 34.3 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.1 hours,
and overtime was unchanged at 3.0 hours. The average workweek for production and
nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours. (See tables
B-2 and B-7.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for December was revised down by 65,000, from
+48,000 to -17,000, and the change for January was revised down by 4,000, from +130,000 to
+126,000. With these revisions, employment in December and January combined is 69,000 lower
than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from
businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the
recalculation of seasonal factors.)
The Employment Situation for March is scheduled to be released on Friday, April 3, 2026,
at 8:30 a.m. (ET).
Effective with revised data for January 2026, updated population estimates were incorporated
into the household survey. Population estimates for the household survey are developed by the
U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau updates their population estimates to
incorporate new information on births, deaths, and migration to estimate the change in
population since the most recent decennial census. The Census Bureau population update also
includes improvements in estimation methodology.
The 2026 update was delayed by a month due to the 2025 federal government shutdown. With the
release of February data, all household survey data for January 2026 were revised to
incorporate the new population estimates. (Household survey estimates for January 2026 have
been updated in the BLS database. However, the January 2026 Employment Situation news release
will not be reissued.) Over-the-month comparisons of February data with revised January data
are not affected by the population control adjustment, although comparisons with earlier
months may be affected.
This year, changes to Census Bureau methodology include the incorporation of updated
demographic information about the population from the 2020 Census. This marks a departure from
the “blended base” introduced in recent years that combined population totals from the 2020
Census and demographic characteristics from other sources. The new population estimates also
include updated information about a decline in net international migration. The January 2026
adjustment reflects changes back to the April 2020 Census population base, even though the
entire adjustment is incorporated in the January 2026 household survey estimates.
While the net effect of the updated 2020 Census base on the total population level was
relatively small, shifts in the demographic composition of the population had notable impacts
on labor force measures.
The updated 2020 Census base resulted in a decrease in the population level for men (mostly
among those ages 25 to 54), while the population level for women increased (particularly among
those age 65 and over). A decline in the number of men ages 25 to 54 (who tend to have higher
labor force participation rates than other groups) and an increase in the number of women age
65 and over (who generally have lower labor force participation rates than other groups) both
put downward pressure on the overall labor force participation rate. These population changes
had similar impacts on employment and the overall employment-population ratio. The
unemployment rate was unaffected.
In addition, the updated 2020 Census base resulted in some notable population differences
across race groups. There were decreases in both the White population and the Black or African
American population, while there were substantial increases in the Asian population and people
in other race groups, including those who are two or more races. (People who report two or
more races are not included in the individual race groups.) There was relatively little change
in the number of people who are Hispanic or Latino. (People of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
may be of any race.)
In accordance with usual practice, BLS did not revise the official household survey estimates
for December 2025 and earlier months. However, to show the impact of the population
adjustments, table A displays differences in selected December 2025 labor force series based
on the old and new population estimates.
Table A shows that the adjustment decreased the estimated size of the civilian noninstitutional
population age 16 and over in December by 231,000. However, the adjustment increased the
number of people not in the labor force by 1.2 million and decreased both the total civilian
labor force and the number of employed people by 1.4 million each. The adjustment lowered the
labor force participation rate by 0.4 percentage point and lowered the employment-population
ratio by 0.5 percentage point. The adjustment had little effect on the total unemployment
level (+15,000), and the unemployment rate was unchanged.
These annual population adjustments can affect the comparability of household data series over
time. Table B shows the effect of the introduction of new population estimates on the change
in selected labor force measures between December 2025 and January 2026. The example in table
B can be replicated to account for an over-the-year comparison, where the effect of the 2026
population control would be subtracted from the over-the-year change to remove the effects of
the population control adjustment.
Population controls for veterans, which are derived from a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
population model and are updated periodically, did not change with data for January 2026.
Although the official series for December 2025 and earlier will not be revised, BLS is
planning to provide an update to the experimental series that were originally introduced with
the 2025 population control adjustment. These experimental time series account for the size
and timing of the updated population control adjustments back to the April 2020 Census base.
These experimental series are not available with this news release but will be available as soon
as practicable at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.
Additional information about the population adjustments and their effects on national labor
force estimates is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.
