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US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

bbc.com

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Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#121

Post by TwoNineA »

iso1631 wrote: post #105
TwoNineA wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last year we cancelled a planned US vacation, this year we didn't even think about it. Going back to Europe two years in a row. I don't give a fuck about tariff policy of our supposed "friends" but when our "friend" repeatedly threatens our independence and sovereignty, no thanks. Not going to step into the USA for a long time.

It's not the government that's the problem per-se, it's the fact half the US supports that government

Controversial opinion, it's way more than half: 1/3 voted for the orange man, 1/3 didn't bother go to vote because "BoTh SideS ARe thE SamE!" and 1/3 tried to do the right thing.

Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#122

Post by heavyset_go »

dmos62 wrote: post #97
nerdsniper wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even a single CBP employee scrolling through your texts feels like too much to me. But when they take your phone, they're making copies of all the content in the phone and as much as possible from any apps/websites you're logged into. And that permanently lives in a database which doesn't afford you even the very thin veil of protection against misuse that a US citizen might be granted. It does all seem to be too muc…

Curious, how do they make copies of everything? Do they just film the phone as they're scrolling it?

Do a search for Cellebrite

Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#123

Post by el_nahual »

btown wrote: post #78
paxys wrote: post #13

If the government-approved numbers are this bad the real ones must be catastrophic.

In all seriousness, I’m unsure that official job numbers (even if they weren’t intentionally distorted, which is a big if these days) have caught up with the gig/creator economy. If a person making ends meet with food delivery and a few dollars of ad revenue is classified as “self-employed,” is that the same level of stability and ability to keep up with cost-of-living increases (which may outpace traditional inflati…

Yes, they have. The BLS actually tracks a number of different "unemployment" numbers, whose definition you see here [0].

The "official" unemployment number, the one now reported as 4.4%, basically only counts the "percent of people actively looking for work that can't find it, who have been looking for work for more that 15 weeks.

The number you are trying to capture is what the BLS calls "U-6". That number is defined as:

> total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.

In other words, anyone that would like more work but can't get it. I encourage you to read the entire definition and footnotes at the link I shared. It's very interesting!

Right now U-6 is at 8%. During the 2007 recession it peaked at about 17%. [1]

[0]: https://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm

[1]: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/U6RATE

Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#124

Post by Aurornis »

testfrequency wrote: post #4

I do not see the tourism industry mentioned here but I have to imagine that is a huge loss right now. Most of the world is not visiting the US right now which means projects and planning that was made in anticipation for summer has probably been halted or heavily reduced.

US tourism declined in 2025 but the number has been relatively flat since then.

These recent job losses are probably not attributable to tourism since that’s unchanged year over year.

I’m not saying tourism is not a factor or denying anecdotes about people not visiting the US, but I don’t think it’s the explanation for the February 2026 job losses.

Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#125

Post by xyzal »

baq wrote: post #50
ChoGGi wrote: post #5

Unexpectedly, if you've been in a coma for the past year. Let's raise tariffs again.

tariffs on goods are mostly noise. if there were tariffs on services, though...

As an European, I would actually love tariffs on American services. Kick them where it hurts.

Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#127

Post by [deleted] »

nemo44x wrote: post #46
testfrequency wrote: post #4

I do not see the tourism industry mentioned here but I have to imagine that is a huge loss right now. Most of the world is not visiting the US right now which means projects and planning that was made in anticipation for summer has probably been halted or heavily reduced.

I have some Euro friends that went to Dubai instead because the USA is “too dangerous” right now. I wish them safe passage back, but yeesh talk about irrational perspective.

[deleted]

Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#129

Post by jorts »

cheesecompiler wrote: post #29
testfrequency wrote: post #4

I do not see the tourism industry mentioned here but I have to imagine that is a huge loss right now. Most of the world is not visiting the US right now which means projects and planning that was made in anticipation for summer has probably been halted or heavily reduced.

There is a significant majority of people in Canada who not only vocally decided to not go to US but discourage their friends from doing so too. People have judged me for driving through the states.

My mom's condo complex in Hawaii used to have many owners from Canada. Over the last year, the number of units for sale has probably 10x'd from previous years.

Re: US economy unexpectedly sheds 92k jobs in February

#130

Post by elicash »

sailfast wrote: post #53

“Unexpectedly” lol We’ve been digging ourselves a giant AI-inflated hole in the economy for months and folks have just been playing musical chairs to grab as much money as possible before the music stops. Hard to believe it’s taken this long. I never wanted to live through the late 70s / early 80s economically but I guess I’ll have my chance!

Unexpectedly is because it's a big miss from the projected job numbers. If you felt like the expected numbers were obviously wrong for this month, you should have traded on that information.
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