Employment Falls by 92,000 as Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.4 Percent

March 6, 2026 – Employment fell by 92,000 in February as the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report. The number of unemployed people, at 7.6 million, changed little in February. Employment in healthcare decreased, reflecting strike activity. Employment in information and federal government continued to trend down. “That jobs weakness coupled with rising oil prices due to the Middle East War could set the stage for a declining economic picture in coming months,” said Scott A. Scanlon, co-founder and CEO of Hunt Scanlon Media.

“We have a job market that is in solid shape, but it’s not as good as it was in 2023 and ⁠2024,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial. “The war just creates additional uncertainty, businesses are already cautious, and maybe they become even more cautious. The economy is vulnerable.”

Economists estimated that added an extra 70,000 jobs to January’s ​payrolls. “Our projection of slow employment growth is not a signal of an economic slowdown, but rather it reflects anticipated one-off drags from weather slowing construction ​payrolls and some payback in healthcare employment,” said Michael Gapen, chief economist at Morgan Stanley.

“It’s a still historically low unemployment rate, it’s right around where the Fed thinks it should be over ​the longer run,” Mr.  Faucher said. “If we see the unemployment rate start to break to the upside, get to 4.6 percent, then I’m starting to get a little more anxious.”

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (4.1 percent), teenagers (14.9 percent), and people who are White (3.7 percent), Black (7.7 percent), Asian (4.8 percent), or Hispanic (5.2 percent) showed little or no change in February.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.9 million in February but is up from 1.5 million a year earlier. The long-term unemployed accounted for 25.3 percent of all unemployed people in February.

Both the labor force participation rate, at 62 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 59.3 percent, changed little in February. These measures showed little change over the year, after accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls.

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 477,000 to 4.4 million in February. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.

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The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job changed little in February at 6.0 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the four weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.6 million in February. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the four weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, decreased by 109,000 in February to 366,000.

Where Job Growth Occurred

• Healthcare employment declined by 28,000 in February, following a large increase in January (+77,000). Offices of physicians lost 37,000 jobs in February, primarily due to strike activity. Hospitals added 12,000 jobs. Over the prior 12 months, healthcare had added an average of 36,000 jobs per month.

• Employment in information continued to trend down in February (-11,000). The industry had lost an average of 5,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months.
• In February, federal government employment continued to decline (-10,000). Since reaching a peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 330,000, or 11.0 percent.
• Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend in February (+9,000), driven by individual and family services (+12,000).
• Transportation and warehousing employment changed little in February (-11,000). A job loss in couriers and messengers (-17,000) was partially offset by a gain in air transportation (+5,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing has declined by 157,000, or 2.4 percent, since reaching a peak in February 2025.
• Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.

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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media