The US economy added 151,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate ticked up just 0.1 points to 4.1%, the Labor Department reported Friday. Federal government employment declined according to the report, but NPR’s Morning Edition notes the survey was taken the week before the first big DOGE purge known as the St. Valentine’s Day massacre. [CHART: Bureau of Labor Statistics] ...

So Far – Elon Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency has pink-slipped about 30,000 federal workers since January, according to New York magazine, so the Labor Department’s April report on March unemployment will be the one to watch. For the record, off-setting last month’s decline in federal government employment were gains in health care, financial activities, social assistance, and transportation and warehousing.

February’s 151k slightly tops January’s OK-but-not-exceptional 143,000. The unemployment rate that month hit an eight-month low of 4%. 

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Correction? -- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back Thursday against a Reuters report repeated here that President Trump was about to reverse the Biden administration's temporary legal status for about 240,000 Ukrainians who fled their country after Russia's invasion, tweeting that "no decision has been made at this time." Not exactly a denial of a report that cited unnamed sources. But Reuters followed up with a report late Thursday that Trump said he would "soon decide" on the Ukrainians' fate.

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GOP Resistance? – While Democratic leaders flail as they try to figure out how to react to President Trump’s first 45 days, Republican submission to everything DOGE and MAGA has been absolute. Except for this: Key Republican senators, including members of the Armed Services Committee, are pushing back on the White House’s pause on US military and intelligence aid to Ukraine, The Hill reports.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) warns the pause “could be helpful to Putin.”

Ya think? … Yes, the military aid and intel pauses to Ukraine certainly places – keeps -- Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in the catbird seat when negotiations re-commence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Steve Witkoff, the White House special envoy, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, next week.

Republican senators … Along with Tillis, Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi are among those listed by The Hill who back the reinstatement of aid to Ukraine. 

“I do not think we should be pausing our efforts,” Collins said. “It’s the Ukrainians who are shedding blood.”

--TL

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THURSDAY 3/6/25

UPDATE: President Trump grants Mexico a 30-day reprieve on tariffs for goods that fall under the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement signed in his first administration, after a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, The Washington Post reports ...

More Than Autos – President Trump is likely to extend a 30-day reprieve of his 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada to all USMCA agreement-compliant goods and services, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC Thursday morning. On Wednesday, Trump said he would give automakers to April 2 before applying the stiff tariffs so they could try to accomplish in 30 days normally takes two years or more; Shift production from Mexico and Canada to US plants. 

Trump touted Detroit automakers’ compliance with the tariffs’ push to move production in his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. But that prompted a call with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley and Chairman Bill Ford Jr., and Stellantis (Chrysler’s owner) Chairman John Elkann, who pointed out the tariffs could result in a one-third cut in daily auto production as early as next week.

Question … on economists’ minds is whether this is The Art of the Deal applied to trade negotiations, or if it’s the work of Lutnick and others in the administration to prevent Trump’s economy going over a cliff from such tariffs.

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Al Green Censured – The House voted 224-198-2, with 10 Democrats joining a unanimous Republican caucus to censure Rep. Al Green (D-TX) for his protest during the opening 10 minutes of President Trump’s joint session address to Congress Tuesday night, The Hill reports. The censure calls Green’s protest “a breach of proper conduct.”

Green voted “present” on the censure vote. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Monday urged his fellow House Democrats to avoid such behavior in favor of “a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber.”

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ReArms Plan – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Brussels attending an emergency summit to discuss further support for Ukraine as Europe seeks to boost its own defense capabilities, The Kyiv Independent reports Thursday, as the Trump administration has “paused” US intelligence sharing with the country. 

Consequences of the US intel pause were immediate, as Thursday before dawn a Russian attack on a hotel in Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih killed at least four people, including a child, The New York Times reports. Intel the US had been providing to Ukraine included tracking of Russian missiles. 

Deporting Ukrainians … Meanwhile, President Trump will revoke the legal status of 240,000 Ukrainians who fled their country during its conflict with Russia as the US steps up deportations, a senior White House official and three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Deportations coming as early as April “would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under President Joe Biden’s administration,” according to the news agency.

Rearming … European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday presented “ReArm Europe” to free up $840 billion to strengthen the continent’s defense capabilities, according to Newsweek. The plan offers “escape clauses” for EU countries to manage public financing that limit deficit spending. Countries in the bloc will have access to loans of up to 150 billion euro, or nearly US$158 billion. 

Read … The State Department’s fact sheet on US Security Cooperation with Ukraine here.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa