The U.S. labor market numbers indicate 275,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in February. But, January’s official government job numbers were revised down from 353,000 to 229,000, a massive drop of 124,000.
Despite the “hot” jobs report Friday, the unemployment rate actually increased — reaching a two-year high of 3.9 percent, up from 3.7 percent in the previous month. Unemployment among White Americans remained unchanged at 3.4 percent, while Black Americans saw unemployment increase from 5.3 to 5.6 percent. Asian and Hispanic Americans saw their rates remain flat at 3.4 and 5 percent, respectively.
The unemployment spike appears to be driven by an increase of workers exiting their jobs to seek new employment and an influx of individuals returning to the status of actively seeking work. An increasing number of immigrants in the U.S. seeking work also contributed to the spike. Healthcare and government sectors and construction saw the bulk of job growth in February. Meanwhile, credit intermediation, mainly commercial banking, has lost around 123,000 jobs since 2021.
However, the jobs scenario is not rosy for everyone. The company rating website, Glassdoor, reported falling employee confidence due to layoffs in tech and media. This concern is particularly acute in white-collar sectors such as human resources, whereas optimism remains relatively high in sectors requiring in-person work, such as healthcare, construction, and manufacturing.
