Employers across the U.S. added 50,000 jobs in December, capping a year of muted job growth that saw employers pull back on hiring amid economic uncertainty. 

The numbers

The monthly job gains were below the 55,000 forecast by economists, according to a poll by FactSet.

The unemployment rate stood at 4.4% in December, compared with 4.5% in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

Payroll gains were revised downward for both October and November, a sign that hiring was weaker than previously reported in those months. The U.S. labor market lost 173,000 jobs in October, a larger decline than the earlier reported decline of 105,000 jobs, while November hiring was revised down to 56,000 from 64,000.

“The labor market has shown continued resiliency, but it’s still softening, and the pace of year-to-date overall employment gains has slowed to the dragging pace of growth we saw in 2020,” said Jerry Tempelman, vice president of fixed income research at Mutual of America Capital Management, in a Friday email.

In December, hiring was robust in food services and drinking, health care and social assistance, while the retail sector shed jobs, the BLS said.

Most layoffs since 2020

Employers announced 1.2 million job cuts in 2025, a 58% increase from the prior year and the highest level since 2020, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday.

Job growth slowed throughout 2025 as some businesses grappled with economic uncertainty, prompting them to pull back on hiring. Payroll gains averaged 50,000 per month last year compared to 168,000 in 2024, according to BLS data.

Some big corporations, such as Amazon, cut jobs as they sought to rely more on artificial intelligence, while the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency oversaw the reduction of roughly 300,000 government jobs last year, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said.

The headwinds facing the labor market prompted the Federal Reserve to thrice cut its benchmark interest rate late last year, as lowering borrowing costs can help spur hiring by making it cheaper for businesses to expand.

Prior to the release of Friday’s report, EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco said he is forecasting hiring will average 25,000 new jobs per month for the first half of 2026, while the unemployment rate could drift up to 4.8%.