Making sense of February's job numbers.
Tangle
Isaac Saul
4.7 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 92,000 in February and unemployment rose from 4.3% to 4.4%. Healthcare, along with leisure and hospitality, accounted for the majority of losses, though the BLS recorded losses in nine of the 14 sectors it tracks. The numbers fell short of economists’ expectations, raising concern about the stability of the labor market.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. |
| 0:08.4 | Tangle. |
| 0:08.4 | A good morning, good afternoon and good evening and welcome to the Tangle podcast, a place where you get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of our take. I'm your host for today, Tango's managing editor Ari Weitzman, and today's edition is about the February Jobs Report. Got some concerning numbers, and since we're talking about numbers, you get me today. |
| 0:40.5 | We're going to unpack them, do our thing across left and right, and then I'll give you my |
| 0:44.9 | take later on in the show. |
| 0:46.4 | But first, just wanted to give you a little bit of an update. |
| 0:50.0 | In case you didn't know, we have a text messaging service. |
| 0:56.3 | It's called subtext. You can sign up using a link in the description of this episode. You can also follow us on Instagram or our Reddit page |
| 1:02.9 | if you want to get more up-to-date information and other areas where you can participate in |
| 1:08.3 | commentary about Tangle. We're more than just the podcast, more than just the newsletter, |
| 1:13.0 | and check us out across channels if you are interested. |
| 1:16.1 | All right, with that said, I'm going to send it over to Audrey, |
| 1:19.1 | who's going to give us the introduction and left-right for today's story |
| 1:22.8 | before I'm back for my take. |
| 1:31.9 | Okay. back for my take. Thanks, Ari, and welcome everyone. |
| 1:34.4 | Let's start with today's quick hits. |
| 1:36.6 | Number one, the U.S. military carried out what defense secretary Pete Hegeseth called its, quote, |
| 1:42.1 | most intense day of strikes in Iran. |
| 1:44.1 | U.S. Central Command also said that it had attacked 16. Secretary Pete Hegeseth called its, quote, Most Intense Day of Strikes in Iran. |
| 1:49.3 | U.S. Central Command also said that it had attacked 16 Iranian vessels believed to be laying mines near the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:52.2 | Separately, White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt said that the U.S. Navy had not |
| 1:56.9 | escorted an oil tanker through the strait, after Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that it had |
... |
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