US economy adds 151,000 jobs but unemployment ticks up in first report of Trump administration
The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs last month, nearly 10,000 less than economists predicted, while unemployment was up slightly in the first report of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Unemployment rose to 4.1 percent, above the 4 percent expected, according to the Labor Department’s February jobs report, published Friday morning.
Economists predicted that the figure would be 160,000 ahead of the eagerly awaited employment report, which follows a month of widespread federal layoffs through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, tough immigration crackdown, and the reigniting of Trump’s trade war.
Trump’s trade tariffs, which he has since paused for Mexico and Canada, stoked concerns that economic growth is slowing as the markets dipped earlier in the week. Economists have warned that the tariffs will likely push up prices for consumers, potentially rekindling inflation that turned many voters against President Joe Biden and helped return Trump to the White House.
Economists said that it is too soon for the impact of the DOGE layoffs to show up in the jobs data.
Job seekers are struggling at the moment, a report published by the Labor Department Thursday found. Continuing jobless claims, which measures the number of people out of work for extended periods, were pushing a three-year high in January.
And statistics released Wednesday showed that private sector job creation slowed in February. Economists predicted private companies would add 148,000 jobs in February, but the figure was just 77,000.
Republicans were laying the groundwork to place the blame at the door of the previous administration before the figures were released.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told former Trump economist Larry Kudlow that the administration inherited “a terrible situation” that would not be fixed overnight during an appearance on Thursday’s Kudlow.
Responding to the bleak jobs forecast, the Fox Business Network host, who served as Trump’s director of the National Economic Council during his first term, warned that Americans are “going to have to suffer — but added it has “nothing to do with Trump.”
“My generic point here to affordability and the economy is we’re going to have to suffer through some bad news,” Kudlow said Wednesday during a segment with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “Trump’s program’s not in yet. And I’ve got people on the left who are blaming Trump,” Kudlow added. “How can you blame Trump when he wasn’t president when these seeds were planted?”
The secretary agreed with him. “You couldn’t be more right about that because we’ve only been here 30 plus days,” Rollins said. “You can’t turn an entire economy around in 30 days.”
Retail giants Walmart and Target warned recently that consumer confidence is low.
Last month Walmart issued a warning for 2025 that it would likely be a slower year for sales and profit and growth than last year. Executives also said that lower-income shoppers were struggling. Target also warned Tuesday of a decline of consumer confidence amid Trump’s tariffs.
