U.S. economy loses 92,000 jobs in February as Iran war triggers stagflation warning

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the U.S. economy shed 92,000 jobs in February 2026 — well below the consensus forecast of minus 50,000 — pushing unemployment to 4.4%. Health care lost 28,000 jobs amid a Kaiser Permanente nurses strike, while leisure and hospitality shed 27,000. Economists warned the simultaneous rise in oil prices from the Iran war and falling employment signaled the early conditions of stagflation, the toxic combination of inflation and recession that last crippled the U.S. economy in the 1970s.