U.S. Sees Its Smallest December Job Gain Since the Pandemic

U.S. employers eased up on hiring in December. According to a survey of businesses by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. employers added 50,000 jobs in December, the weakest December jobs report since the COVID-19 slump in 2020. December job additions were slightly less than the 55,000 jobs added in November following a downward revision of 8,000 jobs. In addition, the December jobs report was below economists’ expectations of a gain of roughly 60,000 jobs. Five of the 11 major industries added jobs in December, with the largest increases in the Leisure/Hospitality Services (+47,000 jobs) and Education/Health Services (+41,000 jobs) sectors, followed by Government (+13,000 jobs), Financial Activities (+7,000 jobs) and Other Services (+5,000 jobs). Notable job losses were seen in Trade/Transportation/Utilities (-33,000 jobs). Other major industries losing jobs during the month were Construction (-11,000 jobs), Professional/Business Services (-9,000 jobs), Manufacturing (-8,000 jobs) and Mining/Logging (-2,000 jobs), while the job count in the Information sector was unchanged. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate (U3 or headline unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted, and is a survey of households) edged lower to 4.4% in December, down from 4.5% in November but above the year earlier rate of 4.2%. Still, unemployment remains low by historical standards.  

This post is part of a series analyzing employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For more on this data, read previous posts on Job Growth.