\u201cI don\u2019t think companies really know the impact of AI on employment either,\u201d Royal told USA TODAY. \u201cThey\u2019re not ready to let people go, but they don\u2019t want to hire a bunch of people\u00a0because they\u2019re not sure they\u2019re going to need them, and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s driving the low-hire, low-fire environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The unemployment rate\u00a0rose\u00a0to\u00a04.4%\u00a0in February,\u00a0up\u00a0from 4.3% in January, and\u00a0up\u00a0from\u00a04.1%\u00a0a year ago.\u00a0Bankrate Senior Economic\u00a0Analyst Mark Hamrick noted\u00a0ahead of the report that less immigration<\/a> and\u00a0an aging workforce<\/a>\u00a0mean fewer new jobs are needed to keep the rate steady.<\/p>\n More: Feeling broke in a steady economy? Here’s what’s happening<\/a><\/p>\n Health care, typically a steady engine of job growth, lost 28,000 jobs\u00a0in February.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0down\u00a0from a\u00a0revised\u00a0gain\u00a0of\u00a077,000\u00a0in January, though the dip can\u00a0primarily\u00a0be\u00a0explained\u00a0by a major strike of\u00a0Kaiser Permanente workers<\/a>\u00a0during\u00a0the BLS\u2019 survey\u00a0period.<\/p>\n Employment in the information sector also trended down in February, shedding 11,000 jobs.\u00a0The federal government\u00a0cut\u00a0another\u00a010,000\u00a0jobs.<\/p>\n The social\u00a0assistance\u00a0sector\u00a0was one of the few bright spots, adding 9,000 jobs in February.<\/p>\n Employment in other industries, including\u00a0construction,\u00a0manufacturing, and\u00a0trade,\u00a0was little changed\u00a0over the month, the BLS said.<\/p>\n Average hourly earnings for all employees on private, nonfarm payrolls rose by\u00a00.4%, to $37.32in February, the BLS said, adding that over the last year, average hourly earnings have increased\u00a03.8%.<\/p>\n But,\u00a0the K-shaped economy<\/a>\u00a0is showing up in\u00a0wage gains, too.<\/p>\n While higher-income wage growth rose to 4.2% over the year in February, middle-income wage growth slowed to 1.2%, and lower-income wage growth slowed to 0.6%,\u00a0over the same period,\u00a0according to a Bank of America Institute report<\/a>.<\/p>\n One reason wage gains are cooling for those workers\u00a0may be that switching jobs now\u00a0doesn\u2019t come with the same salary bump it used to\u00a0during \u201cthe\u00a0Great\u00a0Resignation.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0People who changed jobs in January saw raises that were less than half of what job switchers were getting in 2019, according to Bank of America internal data.<\/p>\n A March 5\u00a0Challenger, Gray & Christmas report<\/a>\u00a0revealed employers\u00a0announced 48,307 job cuts in February, down 55% from January, and\u00a0down 72% from\u00a0February 2025.<\/p>\n Still, job seekers are\u00a0struggling to find work<\/a>, recent college\u00a0grads\u00a0are\u00a0competing with AI<\/a>, and workers are\u00a0clinging to their jobs<\/a>\u00a0fearing they\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be able to land a new one.<\/p>\n A third of workers\u00a0surveyed by\u00a0MyPerfectResume<\/a>, a resume-building platform, said they were worried about losing their job in 2026, and\u00a0nearly half\u00a0predicted the labor market\u00a0will\u00a0get worse.<\/p>\n Private employers announced plans to hire 12,755 workers in February, a 140% increase from 5,306 in January,\u00a0according to\u00a0the Challenger\u00a0report.\u00a0So far this year, it\u00a0found,\u00a0hiring plans are down 56% compared to the first two months of 2025.<\/p>\n After three cuts to the federal funds rate, which serves as a benchmark for interest rates around the country,\u00a0late\u00a0last year, the\u00a0Federal Open Market Committee\u00a0opted to pause<\/a>\u00a0at its last meeting in January.<\/p>\n Oxford Economics economists on March 4 predicted the Fed will hold off on tweaking the rate until it is able to assess the economic impact of\u00a0war with Iran,<\/a>\u00a0and projected the FOMC will lower rates twice in 2026, with the first reduction\u00a0coming\u00a0in June. By then,\u00a0the committee is expected to have\u00a0a new chair<\/a>.<\/p>\n As of March 6,\u00a0forecasters predict<\/a>\u00a0the FOMC will continue to\u00a0hold the rate steady at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%\u00a0at its next two-day meeting on March 17 and 18.\u00a0Before then, committee members will review the February employment numbers and the BLS\u2019 Consumer Price Index report due out March 11.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re\u00a0going to be more focused on\u00a0probably the\u00a0inflation data than the employment data. If the inflation were to come down, they would cut,\u201d Royal said.\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0think they need to see more employment weakness to cut, but I do think they\u00a0probably need\u00a0to see more progress on inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a developing story and will be updated to add\u00a0new information.<\/p>\n Reach Rachel Barber at\u00a0rbarber@usatoday.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow her on X @rachelbarber_<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1c59d3056f95e5c46c3d80ab58fe852b.jpeg\")
A “Now Hiring” sign is reflected through the window of Intuition Career staffing agency in Greenville, Alabama, U.S., December 4, 2022. REUTERS\/Cheney Orr <\/p>\n