America added 151,000 jobs in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate increased by .1 percentage point from 4 percent to 4.1 percent.
The most prominent industries that saw employment gains were healthcare, financial activities, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance.
The healthcare industry added 52,000 jobs, the largest number in any sector. Financial services added 21,000 jobs, and transportation and warehousing added 18,000 jobs.
Furthermore, the social assistance industry added 11,000 jobs.
Federal government employment decreased by 10,000 jobs last month. This number is set to increase in next month’s job report, as it does not show all the federal workers fired as President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency try to shrink the federal government.
Food and beverage retailers lost 15,000 jobs in the private sector, while retail trade decreased by 6,000.
BLS says that food and beverage retailers saw a decrease in jobs due to strike activity.
Also, the private sector’s average earnings increased 10 cents to $35.93. Over the last year, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.0 percent.
The number of people on long-term unemployment was 1.5 million, which changed little from January. These people account for 20 percent of unemployed Americans.
In addition, almost 6 million people who are not in the labor force currently want a job, a number that increased by 414,000 in February.
Another 460,000 Americans picked up part-time jobs for economic reasons. Almost 5 million people in America have taken on a part-time job for economic reasons.
In January, America added 143,000 jobs.
Earlier this week, a report showed that the private industry added 77,000 jobs in February. This was the smallest gain since July 2024.
“Policy uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending might have led to layoffs or a slowdown in hiring last month,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at Always Designing for People. “Our data, combined with other recent indicators, suggests a hiring hesitancy among employers as they assess the economic climate ahead.”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
