U.S. employers cut 92,000 jobs in February, far worse than economists’ expectations of a 50,000-job gain, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in their latest report Friday.
The report also revised January payroll growth down to 126,000 from 130,000 and December to a loss of 17,000 from a previously reported gain of 50,000. The revisions make 2025 the first year with five months of net job loss since 2010.
Health care payrolls fell, largely because a Kaiser Permanente strike temporarily sidelined 31,000 workers, while technology, federal government, transportation and warehousing also weakened. In addition, labor-force participation decreased, suggesting that some workers are giving up on looking for employment.
The data heightened concerns over a slowing economy, with investors weighing softer hiring, tariff uncertainty, and the prospect of future Federal Reserve rate cuts. U.S. GDP growth in the last quarter of 2025 already performed below expectations, with an annualized increase of just 1.4 percent.
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