Retail lost 6,300 jobs in February, after gaining 29,500 in January.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday that employment at food and beverage retailers fell by 15,000, offset by job gains of 10,000 at warehouse clubs, supercenters and other general merchandise retailers. It did not provide specifics regarding job losses and gains at fashion retailers. In related hiring, transportation and warehousing employment gained 18,000 jobs in February. The retail trade job losses followed two months of gains in the sector.
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In the first full month under U.S. President Donald J. Trump, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000. Federal government employment fell by 10,000. More declines are likely in March following the layoffs at federal agencies as the Department of Government Efficiency continues of evaluate the streamlining of the federal government’s infrastructure.
Economists at Wells Fargo in a research note said that state and local government employment “more than offset” the decline in the federal workforce, with private sector hiring “broadened out in February.”
The unemployment rate inched up by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.1 percent. The economists noted that optimism about a labor market acceleration has faded, in part possibly against the backdrop of the rising probability of a major trade war.
On average, employers have added 200,000 over the past three months. And the 151,000 jobs added in February fell short of expectations. Even consumers expect job growth to slow.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell by 7 points in February to 98.3. Both components of the Index declined, with the Presentations Index down 3.4 points to 136.5 and the Expectations Index, a measure of outlook six months out, dropped 9.3 points to 72.9.
Stephanie Guichard, The Conference Board’s senior economist, global indicators, said pessimism about future employment prospects worsened in February, reaching a ten-month high. And she noted that survey responses reflected a “sharp increase in the mentions of trade and tariffs, back to a level unseen since 2019.”