Just caught the February jobs report and it's pretty rough. Non-farm payrolls actually dropped 92,000 instead of the expected 60,000 gain. That's a big miss compared to January's revised 126,000 uptick. Healthcare took a hit with 28,000 job losses, mostly from strike activity, and info sector plus federal government employment both dipped as well.

What caught my eye is the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4% from 4.3% the month before. The household survey showed employment fell by 185,000 people even though the labor force grew slightly. So the unemployment rate moving higher reflects a real softening in the labor market, not just statistical noise.

Average hourly wages did climb though - up $0.15 to $37.32, with annual growth hitting 3.8% versus 3.7% prior month. But honestly, weaker job creation combined with a rising unemployment rate suggests the job market is losing momentum. Interesting timing with all the economic uncertainty out there. Makes you wonder how much longer the Fed holds rates steady before they have to reassess.