US unemployment rate ticks higher to 4.4 per cent

The US Labor Department reported on Friday that hiring deteriorated from January, when companies, non-profits and government agencies added a healthy 126,000 jobs.

Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February.

Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.

The job market had been expected to rebound this year from a lacklustre 2025 when the economy, buffeted by US President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies and the lingering effects of high interest rates, generated just 15,000 jobs a month. 

And January hiring had come in above expectations. 

"Just when it looked like the labour market was stabilising, this report delivers a knock-down blow to that view," said Olu Sonola, head of US economics at Fitch Ratings. 

"It's bad news whichever way you look at it."

The job losses were widespread. 

Construction companies cut 11,000 jobs last month, which likely reflects reflect frigid weather. 

Healthcare firms shed 28,000 jobs after a four-week strike by more than 30,000 nurses and other front-line workers at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii. 

Healthcare has been one of the US job market's strong points.

Factories cut 12,000 jobs and have lost jobs for 14 of the last 15 months.

Restaurants and bars lost nearly 30,000 jobs.

Administrative and support services firms lost nearly 19,000 jobs and courier and messenger services almost 17,000.

Financial firms added 10,000 jobs although job cuts continue to hit that sector as well this year. 

Average hourly wages rose 0.4 per cent from January and 3.8 per cent from a year earlier.

Hiring continues to lag far behind the hiring boom of 2021-2023 when the economy was bouncing back from pandemic lockdowns and the United States was adding nearly 400,000 jobs a month.

Many economists describe today's job market as "no-hire, no-fire": companies are reluctant to add workers but do not want to let go of the ones they have.

Luckily, achieving good-enough job growth is easier these days.

Until a year or two ago, employers needed to hire more than 100,000 people a month to keep the unemployment rate from rising.

But Baby Boomer retirements and the administration's deportations mean there are fewer people competing for work. 

So the break-even point is much lower - anywhere from zero to 50,000 jobs a month, said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm RSM.

"Under the current conditions, 70,000 should be considered solid," he said.

Companies may be holding off on hiring as they buy, install and figure out how best to use new technologies, including artificial intelligence.

AI, after all, potentially means they "can do more with less'" and will need fewer workers, especially for entry-level positions, Brusuelas said.

They are thinking, he said, "we've invested an awful lot of money in (capital expenditures), and we need to see how much we can produce with our current labour force ... The last thing you want to do is hire a lot of young people and then let them go".