The U.S. economy added 50,000 jobs in December and the national unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4%, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Additionally, the previously released preliminary data for November, which had shown a 4.6% national jobless rate, was revised downward to 4.5% in the latest BLS report. This means the 4.4% December jobless rate is 0.1 percentage point lower on a monthly basis but 0.3 percentage points higher than December 2024 when unemployment was at 4.1%.
New Jersey’s December jobs report is not expected to be released until Jan. 22. The state’s November unemployment rate was among the highest in the nation at 5.4% behind Washington, D.C. (6.5%) and California (5.5%).
In December, U.S. hiring continued to trend up in food services and drinking places (+27,000); healthcare (+21,000); and social assistance jobs (+17,000). Retail trade had a net loss of -25,000 jobs, mostly in warehouse clubs, supercenters, and other general merchandise retailers (-19,400) and in transportation and warehousing (-6,600).
Construction lost 11,000 jobs and manufacturing lost 9,000 jobs in December. The federal government gained 2,000 employees in December but overall had a net loss of -277,000 jobs (9.2% of its workforce) for 2025, the BLS said.
Year-over year total nonfarm payroll employment in the U.S. rose by 584,000 jobs in 2025 for an average monthly gain of 49,000. This is significantly less than 2.0 million nonfarm payroll jobs created in 2024, when the average monthly gain was 168,000.
In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 12 cents, or 0.3% to $37.02. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 3.8%.
