The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, a sign that the job market continues to struggle across a broad range of sectors. The hiring numbers, reported Friday by the Labor Department, fell far short of January’s gain of 126,000 jobs. They were worse than the gain of 50,000 jobs that economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected to see. Most Read from The Wall Street JournalThe unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 4.4%. Even so, while the unemployment rate has drifted higher over the past year, it remains low by historical standards.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 06, 2026 13:49 UTC