Design Highlights
- December 2025 added only 50,000 jobs, reflecting a significant decline in job growth compared to previous years.
- The unemployment rate slightly decreased to 4.4%, but long-term unemployment rose, indicating persistent challenges.
- Job growth in 2025 was the worst since 2009, underscoring a weak labor market.
- Despite lackluster job creation, weekly mortgage rates remained flat, indicating disconnection between job market performance and housing costs.
- Economic signals from job and housing markets are mixed, contributing to uncertainty in overall economic conditions.
As the year wrapped up, the jobs report for December 2025 hit the headlines, and let’s just say, it wasn’t exactly the blockbuster everyone was hoping for. A paltry increase of 50,000 nonfarm payroll jobs? Really? That’s just treading water. The unemployment rate did dip slightly to 4.4% from 4.5%, but let’s not throw a party just yet.
When you look at the bigger picture, 2025 added only 584,000 jobs total, averaging 49,000 per month. That’s painfully low compared to the 2 million jobs added in 2024. Talk about a disappointing sequel. In fact, overall job growth in 2025 has been marked as the worst year since 2009, excluding the effects of COVID-19.
2025’s job growth was a letdown, with just 584,000 added—far cry from 2024’s 2 million.
What’s worse? This marks the weakest annual job growth since 2009, outside of that pesky COVID-19 period. The gains were concentrated in healthcare and social assistance, which added a healthy 713,000 jobs. But don’t get too excited.
Professional and business services lost 97,000 jobs, while manufacturing saw a decline of 68,000. Not exactly a stellar performance across the board.
Let’s break this down. No month in 2025 saw job gains that even approached the 2024 average of 168,000. That’s a sign of decelerating momentum, folks. To make matters worse, October and November saw payroll figures revised downward by a combined 76,000. So, was that a real job creation boom or just a mirage?
The long-term unemployed—those jobless for 27 weeks or more—totaled 1.9 million in December, which is up 397,000 over the year. That’s a staggering 26% of all unemployed. Not a good look.
Sure, food services added 27,000 jobs, but retail trade lost 25,000, with declines coming from warehouse clubs and food retailers. The consumer-facing hiring momentum is almost nonexistent.
The Labor Department might want to reframe their narrative. Calling 2025 a “blockbuster year of solid job growth” feels like a stretch. The data suggests it’s more of a “meh” kind of year.
Now, if you think stronger job data usually leads to higher mortgage rates, think again. With this mediocre job creation, weekly mortgage rates are stubbornly flat. For renters wondering if their landlords can legally require them to have coverage, the answer is yes—renters insurance is often included in lease agreements as a protection measure.
It’s a confusing situation. Falling unemployment but weak payroll growth? Mixed signals abound. So, while the economy isn’t collapsing, it sure isn’t thriving either. And that leaves everyone scratching their heads.
