US loses 92,000 jobs in February, falling far short of expected gain

The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February and the jobless rate rose to 4.4 percent, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The Februrary jobs report showed the U.S. labor market rapidly losing steam last month, defying the expectations of experts. Economists expected the U.S. to have gained roughly 60,000 jobs in February with an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, according to consensus estimates.

February job growth was widely expected to slow after much of the U.S. was battered by winter storms last month, following an unseasonably warm January. A surge in the number of striking workers was also likely to take a chunk out of February job gains.

But the steep drop is an alarming sign amid rising concerns about the economic impact of the war in Iran, which is fueling a surge in oil prices.

BLS also issued troubling revisions to previous jobs reports, bringing the total number of jobs gained since December down by 69,000.

The agency revised December 2025’s intitially reported gain of 48,000 jobs to a loss of 17,000 jobs, and cut down the 130,000-job gain intitally reported in January to 126,000.

The health care sector, which has long been the fastest and steadiest growing industry for employment, lost workers in February, largely due to strikes in California and Hawaii.

Job losses were widespread throughout the economy, however.

The information sector lost 11,000 jobs in February as the rise of AI and a reversal of the post-COVID tech hiring frenzy continued to sap employment in the industry. Federal government employment fell by 10,000, and is down 330,000 since October 2024.

Employment barely changed in the miming, construction, manufacturing, financial and retail sectors, and the social assistance sector gained 9,000 jobs.

Updated at 8:52 a.m. EST

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