Employment Situation: For Learners at Large

February 2025 Jobs Report: The Basics - Click here for the BLS full release.

The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%. Let's look at what this means and what the charts in the report show.

Understanding the Two Main Charts

Chart 1: Unemployment Rate (February 2023 - February 2025) ?? This chart shows the percentage of people who are looking for work but don't have jobs. The line has stayed remarkably stable between 4.0-4.2% since May 2024. This means that while the job market isn't getting worse, it's also not improving much. For context, an unemployment rate around 4% is historically considered quite good.

Chart 2: Monthly Job Growth (February 2023 - February 2025) ?? This chart shows how many jobs were added each month. You can see that monthly job gains have been more moderate lately compared to the stronger growth we saw in early 2023. The February 2025 increase of 151,000 jobs is solid but not exceptional.

Where the Jobs Are (and Aren't)

Growing Areas: ??

• Healthcare: Added 52,000 jobs - hospitals, doctor's offices, and nursing homes continue to hire at a steady pace
• Finance: Added 21,000 jobs - especially in real estate and insurance
• Transportation: Added 18,000 jobs - particularly in package delivery services, which added 24,000 jobs

Shrinking Areas: ??

• Federal government: Lost 10,000 jobs
• Grocery stores and food retailers: Lost 15,000 jobs, mainly due to worker strikes

Signs Worth Watching ??

• Part-time for economic reasons: 460,000 more people are working part-time because they can't find full-time work or had their hours cut. This suggests some businesses might be cutting back.
• Wages: Average pay increased to $35.93 per hour, up 4.0% from last year. This is good for workers, but still outpaces the Federal Reserve's target for inflation. ??
• Participation: The percentage of working-age people either working or looking for work (labor force participation) stayed at 62.4%, which is still below pre-pandemic levels.

The Bottom Line

The job market remains generally healthy, but the rise in involuntary part-time work and the slowdown in overall job creation are signs that employers may be becoming a bit more cautious about hiring. This report suggests steady but not spectacular economic growth. ??

Pradnya H. Ryan Beckett, DBA