See below for a press release from Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08), as well as other reactions (e.g., a video from Sen. Mark Warner) to today’s godawful jobs numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which found:
- “Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in February, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in health care decreased, reflecting strike activity. Employment in information and federal government continued to trend down.”
- “The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for December was revised down by 65,000, from +48,000 to -17,000, and the change for January was revised down by 4,000, from +130,000 to +126,000. With these revisions, employment in December and January combined is 69,000 lower than previously reported.
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The February Jobs Report Should Be A Flashing Red Warning Light for the Trump Administration
Today’s BLS job report found that the economy shed 92,000 jobs, raising the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent – one of the highest unemployment rates since 2021. Since President Trump’s tariffs took effect in April 2025, the U.S. economy has, on balance, lost a total of 19,000 jobs. This is a dramatic change from the year before Trump took office, when the economy was averaging 168,000 jobs added per month.
This awful jobs report should be a flashing red warning light for the Trump Administration. Already under strain from the President’s disastrous trade war and anti-immigrant crusade, our economy is extremely ill-prepared to deal with yet another wave of Trump-induced chaos, this time in the form of an illegal war of choice in the Middle East which is rapidly driving up energy prices across the globe.
Far from sparking a manufacturing renaissance, Trump’s tariffs have worsened a months-long slide in blue-collar employment. Those jobs now sit roughly half a million below what was projected in 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, service-sector hiring – especially in healthcare, which has long been the main engine of job growth – is slowing and reporting losses.
The disastrous consequences of Trump’s erratic decisions are becoming clearer by the day. Mounting uncertainty is leading companies to slow hiring. Meanwhile, as Americans pay more for groceries, electricity, housing, and health care, Republicans in Congress continue to cede their power to rein in the Trump Administration’s catastrophic and harmful policies.
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“92,000 jobs lost. Skyrocketing gas prices because of the administration’s war of choice. This is Trump’s economy.”
92,000 jobs lost. Skyrocketing gas prices because of the administration’s war of choice. This is Trump’s economy. pic.twitter.com/lOEYECeVgA
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) March 6, 2026
