"Nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, while the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. But the December gain did little to change the broader picture: employers added just 584,000 jobs in all of 2025, a sharp decline from 2 million jobs in 2024. It was the weakest year for job growth outside of a recession since the early 2000s, Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, told Fortune."
"Markets initially reacted positively to the report but later gave up gains. The S&P 500 was flat and Nasdaq inched up slightly lower. Bond yields were little changed, suggesting investors saw the report as weak but not weak enough to force the Federal Reserve into near-term rate cuts. Yet under the hood of a relatively stable unemployment rate, the composition of the job growth remains starkly narrow."
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4%. Employers added 584,000 jobs in 2025, down sharply from about 2 million in 2024, marking the weakest annual job growth outside a recession since the early 2000s. Markets initially reacted positively but later gave up gains, with the S&P 500 essentially flat and bond yields little changed. Job creation was heavily concentrated in health care and social assistance, with roughly 85% of 2025 hires occurring by April. Health care added about 405,000 jobs and social assistance about 308,000, while most other sectors shed or saw flat hiring, notably manufacturing and construction.
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