The unemployment rate edged up slightly in the first full month of US President Donald Trump’s second term. It comes as Trump takes aggressive tariff approaches towards key trade partners China, Canada and Mexico.
US President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policies are creating uncertainty, with the federal government also laying off workers in multiple departments.
Despite this economic turbulence, the US labor market showed growth in February, adding 151,000 jobs, up from a revised 125,000 in January, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
Last month, Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, with Beijing implementing countermeasures in response. He also had slapped tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports but then delayed those levies after talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Full impact of tariffs yet to be felt
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate inched up to 4.1% from 4% in January.
The report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday did not account for the recent layoffs of probationary federal government workers by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as they fell outside the survey period.
Repeated federal funding freezes have left grant-dependent workers vulnerable, while most new job gains were concentrated in low-wage sectors like hospitality and leisure.
Economists say the long-term effects of Trump’s tariff policies remain unclear, but that the economy under the president’s second nonconsecutive term is on rocky footing.
“The economy is off to a slow start under the new president,” chief economist Christopher Rupkey told Reuters news agency. “You can’t have mass firings of federal workers and government contractors and think it is not going to mean job losses for the private sector. Tariffs are a price hike and a brake on economic growth which includes hiring.”
Edited by: Wesley DockeryÂ
DW News
