US loses 92,000 jobs in Feb as economy shows signs of weakness

Washington, March 7 (IANS) The United States lost 92,000 jobs in February, according to data released by the Bureau of Labour Statistics, signalling potential weakness in the US economy.

Nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 from the previous month, marking the third decline in payrolls over the past five months.

The jobless rate ticked up to 4.4 per cent as jobs decreased in key sectors.

The healthcare industry lost 28,000 jobs, mostly due to a strike at a major health insurance provider, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I have been expecting a soft labour market for some time. It has finally arrived. I don't expect a big crash, but I do expect tepid employment gains in the months ahead," Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua.

"On the plus side for the economy are tax and tariff refunds. On the minus side are higher energy prices," Hufbauer said.

Dean Baker, co-founder of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua: "The jobs number was definitely weaker than expected, but it is likely that part of this is due to the weather."

Indeed, February saw a short but intense cold snap with record snowfall in some areas.

"In particular, we lost 30,000 jobs in restaurants and 11,000 in construction. Weather surely played a role here ... Nonetheless, there is no sector showing good job growth," Baker said.

At the same time, wages increased more than anticipated, with average hourly earnings rising 0.4 per cent month-over-month and 3.8 per cent year-over-year.

"I think it just tells us that the hopes that the labour market was steadying, maybe that was too much. We also have inflation printing above target and oil prices rising. How long they last, we don't know," Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, told CNBC.

Information services also lost jobs due to cuts related to artificial intelligence, shedding 11,000 positions. Manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs.

The report comes at a time of mixed signals for the economy.

"We do not think that this is a harbinger of progressively worse jobs prints coming down the road, but the risk of a downturn has certainly increased," Thomas Simons, a senior economist at Jefferies, was quoted by CNBC.

The Fed has viewed the labour market with caution, eyeing conditions carefully after a spate of moderate interest rate cuts.

Most officials at the central bank have taken a wait-and-see view, closely watching the economy in a bid to determine the appropriate time to cut interest rates.

Meanwhile, economists are also watching the impact of the US war in Iran. If the war continues to escalate, that could spike global oil prices and hurt the US economy. 

--IANS

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