US payrolls drop 92,000 in February as unemployment rises to 4.4%
Mar 6th 2026
Hiring unexpectedly plunged as a nurses strike and extreme winter weather dented payrolls, pushing the unemployment rate up to 4.4% and prompting market moves in stocks, bonds and oil.
- Nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
- The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3%.
- Economists had expected about 60,000 job gains, and January was revised down to a 126,000 gain while December was revised to a 17,000-job loss.
- Health care led declines with 28,000 jobs lost, followed by leisure and hospitality down 27,000 and construction down 11,000.
- A mid-month Kaiser Permanente nurses strike and a severe cold snap are cited as temporary factors that depressed hiring in February, with the strike ending February 23 likely to boost March payrolls.
- Stock futures and the US dollar fell, Treasury yields ticked lower, and crude oil rose about 6% to roughly $86 per barrel; the labor market has lost jobs in five of the past nine months and 19,000 since May.