U.S. unemployment ticks up slightly after Trumps first full month in office – National [Video]

U.S. employers added solid 151,000 jobs last month, but the outlook is cloudy as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens a trade war, purges the federal workforce and promises to deport millions of immigrants.

The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring was up from a revised 125,000 in January. Economists had expected 160,000 new jobs last month.

The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1 per cent as the number of jobless Americans rose by 203,000.

Employment rose in healthcare, finance and transportation and warehousing. The federal government shed 10,000 jobs, the most since June 2022, though economists don’t expect Trump’s federal layoffs to have much of an impact until the March jobs report. Restaurants and bars cut nearly 28,000 jobs last month on top of a loss of almost 30,000 in January.

“The labor market continues to hold up, but we’re still a far cry from where we were a year …