February Jobs Report: US Employment Falls by 92,000 as Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.4%

U.S. nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 92,000 in February, after the January figure was revised down slightly from 130,000 to 126,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) February 2026 Employment Situation report.

The unemployment rate increased slightly from 4.3% in January to 4.4% in February. Year over year, the unemployment rate edged up by 0.2 percentage points.

Durable goods manufacturing lost 4,000 jobs, and nondurable goods manufacturing lost 8,000 jobs.

"This February jobs report was far weaker than I had hoped, particularly after a slight bump up for manufacturing in January,” says Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. “There are many factors swirling around — AI, bad weather, tariff volatility and much more. With a potential energy shock on the horizon, there may be even worse news to come.”

By manufacturing sector, fabricated metal product manufacturing and electrical equipment, appliance and component manufacturing posted the largest job gains, while plastics and rubber products manufacturing and transportation equipment manufacturing saw the largest losses, according to BLS industry sector data.