NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. labor market ended 2025 on a noticeably soft note, with job creation in December falling short of expectations and the unemployment rate ticking down to 4.4 percent in December, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
Total nonfarm payrolls in the United States increased by a seasonally adjusted 50,000 in December, missing the market estimate of 73,000. The sluggish performance was compounded by negative adjustments to prior data. More notably, the job loss in October was steeper than initially reported, now standing at 173,000 compared to the prior estimate of 105,000.
The slowdown is evident in the broader annual trend. For the full year of 2025, payroll gains averaged just 49,000 a month, marking a sharp deceleration from the 168,000 monthly average recorded in 2024.
The bureau added that the federal government shutdown did not impact the collection of household survey data and addressed technical adjustments regarding the calculation of these figures. ■