The U.S. Department of Labor’s employment report released on Friday, March 7, showed that the number of non-farm jobs added in February was 151,000, which was lower than the Dow Jones’ forecast of 170,000, with an unemployment rate of 4.1%.
Despite the lower-than-expected job additions in February, it was an improvement compared to the downwardly revised 125,000 in January. The unemployment rate for February slightly increased from 4% in January to 4.1%.
Since May 2024, the unemployment rate has been hovering in a narrow range between 4.0% and 4.2%. In February, the total number of unemployed Americans was 7.1 million.
Looking at specific industries, the healthcare sector once again led job growth in February with an additional 52,000 jobs. Other major areas of job growth included financial activities (21,000), transportation and warehousing (18,000), and social assistance (11,000).
The release of the employment report comes amidst significant reductions in federal employees by the Trump administration. In February, the number of federal government employees decreased by 10,000. Additionally, there was a decrease of 6,000 jobs in the retail sector.
However, the February employment data indicates stability in the U.S. labor market. In terms of employee wages, the average hourly wage increased by 0.3% compared to the previous month, meeting expectations. On a year-over-year basis, wages rose by 4%, slightly below the expected 4.2% increase.
Following the release of the report, stock market futures rose while treasury bond yields declined.