The U.S. economy added jobs at a slower pace than expected in February, giving the Federal Reserve more labor market data to consider as it prepares to meet later this month.
The Labor Department on Friday reported that employers added 151,000 jobs in February, below the estimate of 160,000 jobs made by LSEG economists.
The unemployment rate was 4.1%, slightly higher than economists’ expectations that it would remain at 4%.
The number of jobs added in the prior two months were both revised, with job creation in December revised up by 16,000 from a gain of 307,000 to 323,000; while January was revised down by 18,000 from a gain of 143,000 to 125,000. Taken together, the revisions reduce previously reported employment by 2,000 jobs.
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Private sector payrolls added 140,000 jobs in February, slightly lower than the 142,000 estimated by LSEG economists.
Federal government employment declined by 10,000 jobs in February as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, began to make cuts.
Across all levels of government, employment increased by 11,000 in February — with state governments adding 1,000 jobs and local governments 20,000 jobs to more than offset the federal job losses.
Manufacturing added 10,000 jobs in February, above LSEG economists’ estimate of a 5,000 gain.
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Healthcare added 52,000 jobs last month, roughly in line with the average monthly gain of 54,000 over the past 12 months. The growth was driven by ambulatory healthcare services (+25,600), hospitals (+14,900) and nursing and residential care facilities (+11,500).
Employment in financial activities increased by 21,000 — above the average gain of 5,000 over the past year. The growth was in real estate, rental and leasing (+9,900) and insurance (+5,100), while commercial banking shed some jobs (-4,700).
Transportation and warehousing employment was up 17,800 jobs in February, with job growth occurring among couriers and messengers (+23,500) and air transportation (+3,500).
Social assistance added 11,100 jobs — a slower pace than the 12-month average of 21,000 — with most of the gains occurring in individual and family services (+10,000).
The retail sector shed 6,300 jobs in February and employment in the sector has shown little net change over the past year.
The labor force participation was 62.4% in February, having changed little over the last year and falling slightly from the 62.6% reported in January.
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The number of people considered to be long-term unemployed, defined as being jobless for 27 weeks or more, was 1.5 million in February — slightly higher than the 1.4 million reported last month. The long-term unemployed accounted for 20.9% of all unemployed people.
The number of workers employed part-time for economic reasons rose by 460,000 to 4.9 million in February. These workers would’ve preferred full-time work but were working part-time because their hours were reduced, or they could not find full-time jobs.
Multiple jobholders increased by 96,000 in February and represented 5.4% of the labor force, a level that has been little changed over the last year.
The February jobs report comes as the Federal Reserve is preparing for its next policy meeting on March 18-19, with the central bank expected to hold interest rates steady again amid uncertainty over inflation and the health of the labor market.
“The Fed is in a pickle,” said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank. “On the one hand, slower job growth and rising unemployment are arguments for a rate cut. On the other hand, inflationary policies like tariffs and immigration restrictions are arguments against a cut.”
“What to do! Most likely the Fed will sit on their hands for a bit, just like private hiring managers seem to be doing,” Adams explained, noting the firm projects the Fed’s next interest rate move to be a quarter percentage point cut in July.
The market’s expectations that the Fed will leave rates unchanged this month were reinforced by the February jobs report.
A week ago, the market saw a 92% probability of the Fed leaving the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That dipped to 88% on Thursday amid uncertainty over tariffs, though it rebounded to 97% on Friday following the release of the jobs report.
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