The US job market added fewer jobs than expected in February as unemployment unexpectedly rose

[bucolic_frolic]

https://www.businessinsider.com/february-jobs-report-unemployment-rate-employment-federal-reserve-interest-rates-2025-3

The job market was just a touch cooler in February, as new job creation clocked in at 151,000, below expectations, and unemployment unexpectedly increased to 4.1%.

The job growth forecast was 159,000, and unemployment was expected to be at the same rate as January's 4%. Unemployment has been between 4% and 4.2% since May.

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Economic data like unemployment is useful for the Federal Reserve to determine what to do next with interest rates. The Federal Open Market Committee is meeting later this month, following their most recent decision to hold rates steady in January. Since then, two jobs reports and other data releases, such as reports about consumer confidence and prices, have given further insight into the economy's performance.

"Labor market conditions have cooled from their formerly overheated state and remain solid," Fed chair Jerome Powell said in the semiannual testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in February.