Press Releases

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today issued its February 2026 jobs report, which 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.

Rep. Don Beyer, Senior House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, said:

“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.”