Jobs Report
February 2026 BLS 3-10-26
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- FEBRUARY 2026
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in
February, and the unemployment rate
changed little at 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Employment
in health care decreased, reflecting strike activity.
Employment in information and federal
government continued to trend down.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly
surveys. The household survey measures
labor force status, including unemployment, by
demographic characteristics. The establishment
survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings
by industry. For more information
about the concepts and statistical methodology used in
these two surveys, see the Technical
Note.
Household Survey Data
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, and the
number of unemployed people, at 7.6
million, changed little in February. (See table A-1. See
the note at the end of this news
release and tables A and B for more information about the
annual population adjustments to the
household survey estimates.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for
adult men (4.0 percent), adult women
(4.1 percent), teenagers (14.9 percent), and people who
are White (3.7 percent), Black (7.7
percent), Asian (4.8 percent), or Hispanic (5.2 percent)
showed little or no change in
February. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27
weeks or more) changed little at 1.9
million in February but is up from 1.5 million a year
earlier. The long-term unemployed
accounted for 25.3 percent of all unemployed people in
February. (See table A-12.)
Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.0 percent,
and the employment-population ratio,
at 59.3 percent, changed little in February. These
measures showed little change over the
year, after accounting for the annual adjustments to the
population controls. (See table A-1.
For additional information about the effects of the
population adjustments, see the note at
the end of this news release and table B.)
The number of people employed part time for economic
reasons decreased by 477,000 to 4.4
million in February. These individuals would have
preferred full-time employment but were
working part time because their hours had been reduced or
they were unable to find full-time
jobs. (See table A-8.)
The number of people not in the labor force who currently
want a job changed little in
February at 6.0 million. These individuals were not
counted as unemployed because they were
not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks
preceding the survey or were unavailable to
take a job. (See table A-1.)
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the
number of people marginally attached
to the labor force changed little at 1.6 million in
February. These individuals wanted and
were available for work and had looked for a job sometime
in the prior 12 months but had not
looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The
number of discouraged workers, a
subset of the marginally attached who believed that no
jobs were available for them, decreased
by 109,000 in February to 366,000. (See Summary table A.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in
February, following an increase in
January (+126,000). Employment in health care decreased
in February, reflecting strike
activity. Employment in information and federal
government continued to trend down. Payroll
employment changed little on net in 2025. (See table
B-1.)
Health care employment declined by 28,000 in February,
following a large increase in January
(+77,000). Offices of physicians lost 37,000 jobs in
February, primarily due to strike
activity. Hospitals added 12,000 jobs. Over the prior 12
months, health care had added an
average of 36,000 jobs per month.
Employment in information continued to trend down in
February (-11,000). The industry had lost
an average of 5,000 jobs per month over the prior 12
months.
In February, federal government employment continued to
decline (-10,000). Since reaching a
peak in October 2024, federal government employment is
down by 330,000, or 11.0 percent.
Employment in social assistance continued its upward
trend in February (+9,000), driven by
individual and family services (+12,000).
Transportation and warehousing employment changed little
in February (-11,000). A job loss in
couriers and messengers (-17,000) was partially offset by
a gain in air transportation
(+5,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing
has declined by 157,000, or 2.4
percent, since reaching a peak in February 2025.
Employment showed little change over the month in other
major industries, including mining,
quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction;
manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail
trade; financial activities; professional and business
services; leisure and hospitality; and
other services.
In February, average hourly earnings for all employees on
private nonfarm payrolls rose by 15
cents, or 0.4 percent, to $37.32. Over the past 12
months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 3.8 percent. In February, average hourly
earnings of private-sector production
and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents, or 0.3
percent, to $32.03. (See tables B-3 and
B-8.)
In February, the average workweek for all employees on
private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged
at 34.3 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek
edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.1 hours,
and overtime was unchanged at 3.0 hours. The average
workweek for production and
nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was
unchanged at 33.8 hours. (See tables
B-2 and B-7.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for
December was revised down by 65,000, from
+48,000 to -17,000, and the change for January was
revised down by 4,000, from +130,000 to
+126,000. With these revisions, employment in December
and January combined is 69,000 lower
than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from
additional reports received from
businesses and government agencies since the last
published estimates and from the
recalculation of seasonal factors.)
The Employment Situation for March is scheduled to be
released on Friday, April 3, 2026,
at 8:30 a.m. (ET).
Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household
Surv
Effective with revised data for January 2026, updated
population estimates were incorporated
into the household survey. Population estimates for the
household survey are developed by the
U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau updates
their population estimates to
incorporate new information on births, deaths, and
migration to estimate the change in
population since the most recent decennial census. The
Census Bureau population update also
includes improvements in estimation methodology.
The 2026 update was delayed by a month due to the 2025
federal government shutdown. With the
release of February data, all household survey data for
January 2026 were revised to
incorporate the new population estimates. (Household
survey estimates for January 2026 have
been updated in the BLS database. However, the January
2026 Employment Situation news release
will not be reissued.) Over-the-month comparisons of
February data with revised January data
are not affected by the population control adjustment,
although comparisons with earlier
months may be affected.
This year, changes to Census Bureau methodology include
the incorporation of updated
demographic information about the population from the
2020 Census. This marks a departure from
the "blended base" introduced in recent years
that combined population totals from the 2020
Census and demographic characteristics from other
sources. The new population estimates also
include updated information about a decline in net
international migration. The January 2026
adjustment reflects changes back to the April 2020 Census
population base, even though the
entire adjustment is incorporated in the January 2026
household survey estimates.
While the net effect of the updated 2020 Census base on
the total population level was
relatively small, shifts in the demographic composition
of the population had notable impacts
on labor force measures.
The updated 2020 Census base resulted in a decrease in
the population level for men (mostly
among those ages 25 to 54), while the population level
for women increased (particularly among
those age 65 and over). A decline in the number of men
ages 25 to 54 (who tend to have higher
labor force participation rates than other groups) and an
increase in the number of women age
65 and over (who generally have lower labor force
participation rates than other groups) both
put downward pressure on the overall labor force
participation rate. These population changes
had similar impacts on employment and the overall
employment-population ratio. The
unemployment rate was unaffected.
Table A shows that the adjustment decreased the estimated
size of the civilian noninstitutional
population age 16 and over in December by 231,000.
However, the adjustment increased the
number of people not in the labor force by 1.2 million
and decreased both the total civilian
labor force and the number of employed people by 1.4
million each. The adjustment lowered the
labor force participation rate by 0.4 percentage point
and lowered the employment-population
ratio by 0.5 percentage point. The adjustment had little
effect on the total unemployment
level (+15,000), and the unemployment rate was unchanged.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Norb Leahy,
Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
