According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 50,000 in December, while the unemployment rate remained stable at 4.4%. Employment saw notable increases in food services and drinking places, health care, and social assistance, whereas retail trade experienced declines. These findings are based on two monthly surveys: the household survey, which measures labour force status, including unemployment by demographic characteristics, and the establishment survey, which assesses nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry.

The BLS highlighted, “household survey data were revised using updated seasonal adjustment factors through the end of 2025, incorporating changes back to January 2021. Establishment survey data for December continued to reflect minimal employment growth, consistent with trends observed since mid-year.”

Household Survey Data

In December, the unemployment rate held at 4.4%, with 7.5 million people unemployed. The rates for major worker groups showed little change: adult men (3.9%), adult women (3.9%), teenagers (15.7%), Whites (3.8%), Blacks (7.5%), Asians (3.6%), and Hispanics (4.9%).

The number of long-term unemployed remained at 1.9 million, accounting for 26.0% of all unemployed individuals—an increase of 397,000 over the year. The number of people jobless for less than 5 weeks edged down to 2.3 million.

The labour force participation rate (62.4%) and the employment-population ratio (59.7%) showed little change and have remained stable over the year. The number of people employed part-time for economic reasons was 5.3 million, up by 980,000 over the year. These individuals preferred full-time jobs but were working part-time due to reduced hours or inability to find full-time employment.

The number of people not in the labour force who wanted a job was 6.2 million, up by 684,000 over the year. Among them, 1.8 million were marginally attached to the labour force, and 461,000 were discouraged workers who believed no jobs were available for them—a decrease of 183,000 in December..

Establishment Survey Data

In December, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 50,000, continuing a trend of minimal change throughout the year. Notable job gains occurred in food services and drinking places (+27,000), health care (+21,000), including a 16,000 increase in hospitals, and social assistance (+17,000), driven by individual and family services (+13,000).

Retail trade lost 25,000 jobs, with declines in warehouse clubs, supercentres, and other general merchandise retailers (-19,000) and food and beverage retailers (-9,000), partially offset by gains in electronics and appliance retailers (+5,000). Federal government employment was little changed (+2,000) but remains down by 277,000 since January.

Employment in other major industries—including mining, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, professional and business services, and other services—showed little change over the month.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 12 cents to $37.02, marking a 3.8% increase over the past year. The average workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours, while production and nonsupervisory employees’ workweek remained at 33.7 hours.

Revisions for October and November showed a net decrease of 76,000 jobs, with October revised down by 68,000 to -173,000 and November revised down by 8,000 to +56,000. These revisions resulted from additional reports and recalculations of seasonal factors.

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