U.S. jobs data released on Friday for the month of February showed a drop of 92,000 jobs nationally, pushing the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent. The skilled nursing sector managed to buck the trend and record a small increase in the number of people employed in the sector as the march back to pre-pandemic employment levels continues.

In its monthly employment report for February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) gained 400 jobs when compared to the employment levels a month prior in January at 1,574,100 jobs for February versus 1,573,700 for January.

Year-over-year, BLS said SNFs in February 2026 employed 44,600 more workers than in February 2025, at 1,574,100 jobs versus 1,529,500, respectively.

Revisions to the previous month’s employment levels were not so kind to the SNF sector. Last month’s labor report said 1,575,600 people were employed in SNFs in January, but the latest BLS data put the number at the aforementioned 1,573,700 jobs, a downward revision of 1,900 jobs.

All numbers are seasonally adjusted.

The overall economic picture darkened significantly with the February employment data. According to CNBC, the decline in nonfarm payrolls of 92,000 is “a sharp contrast from the downwardly revised January gain of 126,000 and far below the growth of 50,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones expected for the month. The unemployment rate also rose to 4.4 percent. Economists expected the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.3 percent.”

Questions or comments? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.