US job growth stable as government cuts start

US President Donald Trump's cuts to the government workforce have started to hit, but overall hiring last month remained stable as growth in other sectors offset those lossesThe Labor Department said federal employment dropped by 10,000 in February.Across the economy, employers added 151,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, from4% in January.

The monthly report from the government is a closely-watched signal of economic health that was under particular scrutiny this month, amid rising concern about the economic disruption sparked by Trump administration policy changes.US President Donald Trump's cuts to the government workforce have started to hit, but overall hiring last month remained stable as growth in other sectors offset those lossesThe Labor Department said federal employment dropped by 10,000 in February.Across the economy, employers added 151,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, from  in January.The monthly report from the government is a closely-watched signal of economic health that was under particular scrutiny this month, amid rising concern about the economic disruption sparked by Trump administration policy Analysts had been forecasting about 170,000 new jobs. The monthly gain in February was similar to the average monthly rise of 168,000 over the past year, the Labor Department said.

Hiring was driven by healthcare and financial firms. The manufacturing sector also added about 10,000 jobs, gains that were highlighted by the Trump administratioGovernment hiring slowed sharply, while analysts cautioned that the report did not yet reflect the full extent of the cuts that the White House has announceSeema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, said the report felt "reassuringly in line with expectations, showing payrolls growth only modestly weaker than in recent monthsYet, while the worst fears were not met, the report does confirm that the labour market is cooling," she warne

"Furthermore, with no shortage of headwinds confronting the US economy, the softening trend is likely to persist and may potentially deepen given the toxic combination of federal government layoffs, public spending cuts, and tariff uncertainty related inertiaEven before Donald Trump took office as president, financial analysts had been surprised at the long-running streak of growth in the US labour market, which came despite pressure from price increases and high interest rate

In his first weeks, Trump's changes to US policy have added to pressures on the economy, generating widespread uncertainty.