US Jobs Report: Unexpected Slowdown, Unemployment Rise

0:00On March 6th, the U.S. economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, marking a sharp and unexpected slowdown in hiring. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent, missing economist forecasts of 60,000 new jobs and a steady 4.3 percent rate, revisions painted an even bleaker picture, cutting December's gains to a 17,000 job loss and trimming January's addition to 100, 26,000. For all of 2025, job growth totaled just 181,000, the weakest since the COVID era and a steep drop from 2. Million, the year before, with losses mounting in the second half. Job cuts spread across key sectors, including a swing from health care gains to 28,000 losses, hit hard by strikes and physician offices. Information services and transportation each dropped 11,000, while federal government jobs fell another 10,000, down 300, 30,000 from their peak. Disparities persist too, with black unemployment at 7.7 percent, far above the 3.7 percent

1:05rate for white workers. Economists point to caution among companies, layoffs in multiple industries, and no net job gains since last spring amid broader pressures. This February snapshot, released Friday, sets the stage for the Federal Reserve's interest rate talks on March 17th and 18th, just as, global tensions add fresh uncertainty to the outlook.