The health care sector added 52,000 jobs in February, accounting for more than one-third of employment growth in the month. This figure was in line with most expectations and indicates that federal layoffs and contract cancellations have not yet had a substantial impact on overall employment growth.
However, it is worth noting that a drop in hours in January, which was thought to be related to weather and the Los Angeles fires, was not reversed in the February data. The index of aggregate hours in February is 0.1 percent below its average for the fourth quarter of last year.
The household survey also showed some worrisome signs. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent, which still left it an historically low level. However, there was a sharp rise in the number of people who report they are working part-time but want full-time jobs. As a result, the broader U-6 measure of unemployment jumped 0.5 pp to 8.0 percent, the highest since October of 2021.