Unemployment ticked up slightly and the government shed 10,000 employees as DOGE’s job-slashing efforts and Trump’s economic agenda take hold.

The labor market picked up 151,000 jobs in February, a solid pace, despite a massive layoff among federal workers that began to show up in the data. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1 percent, extending low levels that have marked the past few years. Federal government payrolls lost 10,000 jobs in February.

The U.S. economy has gotten off to a rocky start in 2025 — and President Donald Trump's rapid-fire announcements on tariffs, spending cuts and mass federal layoffs are adding to the tumult. Investors are looking for signs in the February jobs report on how the labor market is holding up.