Nonfarm payroll added 50,000 jobs in December, capping a year of significantly slower employment growth, as reported in the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This modest gain follows November’s 56,000 jobs (revised down from 64,000) and marks the end of a challenging year for hiring.
For 2025 as a whole, payroll employment rose by just 584,000 — an average monthly gain of 49,000 — far below 2024’s increase of 2.0 million jobs with average monthly gains of 168,000.
Most of the employment growth for December was in food services and drinking places (+27,000), health care (+21,000), and social assistance (+17,000). Retail trade lost 25,000 jobs over the month.
Employment in temporary help services declined by 5,700 jobs, contributing to a year-over-year loss of 99,200 positions in the sector — a key indicator of broader labor market softness. Federal government employment remained relatively stable with a modest increase of 2,000 jobs, though it has declined by 277,000 since reaching a peak in January.
Other highlights from the latest BLS report include:
- The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.4%, with 7.5 million people unemployed. The rate has remained between 4.1% and 4.5% for much of 2025.
- The employment-population ratio held at 59.7%, and the labor force participation rate changed little at 62.4%, both showing minimal change over the year.
- The number of people employed part-time for economic reasons stood at 5.3 million, up by 980,000 over the year. This is a concerning trend indicating that more workers are unable to find full-time positions.
- The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job reached 6.2 million, up by 684,000 over the year.
- Average hourly earnings rose by 12 cents to $37.02, a 0.3% monthly increase, with year-over-year wage growth at 3.8%.
Private employment adds 41,000 jobs
ADP’s National Employment Report showed private sector employment increased by 41,000 jobs in December, rebounding from November’s revised decline of 29,000 (originally reported as -32,000). Annual pay growth held steady at 4.4%.
“Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.
December gains were concentrated in education and health services (+39,000) and leisure and hospitality (+24,000). Professional and business services declined sharply by 29,000 jobs, while information shed 12,000 positions and manufacturing lost 5,000 jobs.
Year-over-year pay gains showed job-stayers saw wages rise 4.4%, unchanged from November, while job-changers experienced accelerated pay growth of 6.6%, up from 6.3% in November.
