As of April 1, 2026, February is the newest U.S. jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency said total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 92,000 in February after rising by 126,000 in January. The unemployment rate stayed almost the same at 4.4%, with about 7.6 million unemployed people. “Nonfarm payroll” means most wage-and-salary jobs in the United States, but it does not include farm work, private household work, or self-employment. (bls.gov)
Why did jobs go down? Health care lost 28,000 jobs in February. BLS says much of that drop came from strike activity. Offices of physicians lost 37,000 jobs, while hospitals added 12,000. Information also lost 11,000 jobs, and federal government jobs fell by 10,000. Since October 2024, federal government employment has dropped by 330,000, or 11.0%. (bls.gov)
Not every area was weak. Social assistance added 9,000 jobs, helped by individual and family services. Transportation and warehousing was almost flat overall, down 11,000, with losses in couriers and messengers partly balanced by gains in air transportation. In many other big industries, such as construction, manufacturing, retail, finance, professional services, and leisure and hospitality, employment changed little. (bls.gov)
There was one more surprise: BLS revised older numbers lower. December 2025 changed from a gain of 48,000 jobs to a loss of 17,000, and January 2026 was revised from +130,000 to +126,000. At the same time, average hourly earnings rose to $37.32, up 3.8% from a year earlier. So, this report gives a mixed picture. Job growth was weak in February, but pay still moved up. Because strikes affected health care, it is reasonable to think this one month may not show the full trend. The next BLS jobs report, for March 2026, is scheduled for April 3, 2026. (bls.gov)










