The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its employment / unemployment report for February on March 7^th, 2025.

Employment / Unemployment 

• Seasonally Adjusted U3- 4.1% Up from 4.0%
• Unadjusted U3- 4.5% Up from 4.4% in January
• Unadjusted U6- 8.4% Up from 8.2% in January
• Labor Force Participation Rate 62.4% Down from 62.6%
• Employment 157.983 million Up from 157.092 million
• Next data release April 4^th, 2025

Summary:
Total Employed increased in February, but Unadjusted Unemployment was up. Seasonally adjusted Unemployment also increased.

According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in February, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment trended up in health care, financial activities, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance. Federal government employment declined…

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in February. The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent since May 2024…

 In February, employment trended up in health care, financial activities, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance. Federal government employment declined.“

You can read the full BLS report here.

As usual, they are talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs”.

Looking at the Unadjusted Establishment Survey report we see…
Originally the BLS reported employment of 157.091 million jobs for January
which they just adjusted slightly to 157.092 million.

They are currently reporting 157.983 million jobs for February which is actually an increase of 892,000 jobs.

Despite the rise in employment, unemployment was also up, and the Labor Force participation rate was down.

The LFPR was down from 62.6% to 62.4%.

Current Unemployment Rate Chart

As the chart below shows, although unemployment is still low, it is above the lows of 2019 and 2023. At 4.1%, Seasonally Adjusted unemployment is still “Very Good”.

Current Employment Rate

Last month’s massive BLS adjustments created a sea of red in the Employment levels, erasing millions of supposed jobs in 2023 and 2024, while January’s numbers barely changed.

See Current Employment  for more information.

BLS: February 2025 Employment by Sector

The BLS employment “bubble chart” based on the Establishment Survey Data gives us a good picture of the Seasonally Adjusted employment numbers.

The Bubble’s Size tells us the total Employment for that industry (i.e., larger bubbles mean more people are employed in that sector).

The bubble’s location on the chart tells us that there has been a change in Employment Levels over the most recent month… A bubble further to the right indicates larger job growth. A bubble’s vertical location on the chart shows the average industry salary.

Remember, these are Seasonally Adjusted Numbers, so they aren’t cumulative!

Looking at the above chart we can see that three sectors were below zero (i.e., left of the zero line -lost workers). Several others were very close to zero. Surprisingly, Retail and Hospitality were some of the major losers.

BLS Average Weekly Wages

BLS Employment and Average Weekly Earnings by Industry

February 2025, Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Note that due to “seasonal adjusting,” although they may claim that there was a “monthly increase” (or decrease), there isn’t always an actual increase; you can’t just subtract last month’s “employment level” from this month’s level. For instance, Mining was supposed to be up by 5,000 in February. But January was 615,000 and February was 625,000 which looks like a 10,000 job increase, not a 5,000 increase.

Source: BLS

ADP^® National Employment Report

ADP provides an independent (non-government) estimate of private-sector employment and pay, based on data derived from ADP client payrolls. According to ADP®, In collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

ADP: Private employers added 77,000 jobs in February

Source: ADP®

ADP Private Employment by Establishment Size

February ADP Changes:

ADP Job Gainers / Losers

ADP provides an entirely different picture of the job situation compared to the BLS perspective. For instance, according to the BLS Leisure and Hospitality lost -16,000 jobs but ADP says they gained 41,000. Also, BLS says Professional and Business Services lost -2,000 jobs and ADP says they gained 27,000 jobs. ADP also combines Trade, Transportation, and Utilities while the BLS lists them separately.

Unemployment

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment is up 0.1% at 4.1%.

Labor Force Participation Rate

The LFPR is down from 62.6% to 62.4%.

Less Than Full Employment

This chart compares employment levels with the (inverted) unemployment rate.

Full Employment is when everyone who wants a job has one. It is generally considered to be around 3%. After the unemployment rate almost touched the magic full employment line in April 2023, it began moving away (i.e., higher unemployment).

Note: The Unemployment rate is inverted to track the employment rate. Neither is Seasonally Adjusted. For more information see Employment vs. Unemployment.

Note: Full employment is not considered to be at zero percent because even when employers are having difficulty finding employees, some people are still unemployed due to either:

1. structural unemployment (mismatch between worker skills and job requirements, i.e., not enough training) or
2. frictional unemployment There will always be people who have quit or have lost a seasonal job and are in the process of getting a new job. Or Simply because they quit their job knowing it would be easy to find another (hopefully better) job.

Seasonally Adjusted U1 through U6 Unemployment Rates

Employment-Population Ratio

By Gender

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Gender. Men make up a much larger portion of the workforce, i.e., 67.2% of men are employed, and only 56.6% of women are employed. But…

As you can see, 20 years ago, back in 2005, over 72% of men were working and 57.4% of women were working. In 2008, the Great Recession caused a massive decline in employment for both men and women. By December of 2009, only 66.4% of men were working and 55.4% of women. Over the next decade and a half, women workers rebounded back to 56.6% but men only rebounded to 67.2%.

Employment-Population Ratio by Race

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Race. As we can see Hispanics and Asians have the highest percentage employed tied at 63.4%.