US Job Growth Was Under Expectations In Final Month Of 2025

The U.S. economy added 50,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in December 2025, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released Friday.

The December employment report comes on the heels of job growth having changed little in November 2025, with the U.S. economy adding 64,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, the BLS reported on Dec. 16. Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate changed little in December at 4.4%, compared to 4.6% the month prior, according to the BLS. (RELATED: Here’s How The US Economy Really Fared Under Trump In 2025)

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones projected that the U.S. economy would add about 73,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs in December, marking an increase from November, CNBC reported on Wednesday. The unemployment rate was expected to edge down slightly to 4.5% last month, according to CNBC.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 16: A restaurant displays a ‘hiring’ sign in its window in Manhattan on December 16, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Additionally, private sector employment in the U.S. increased by 41,000 jobs in December, while pay was up 4.4% year-over-year, according to an Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) National Employment Report released on Wednesday.

“Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back,” Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said in a statement.

The American economy grew at a much greater-than-expected pace in the third quarter of 2025, with real gross domestic product (GDP) increasing at an annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter of 2025, according to an initial estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Dec. 23. By comparison, real GDP increased 3.8% in the second quarter of 2025, according to the BEA.

“The TARIFFS are responsible for the GREAT USA Economic Numbers JUST ANNOUNCED,” President Donald Trump wrote in a Dec. 23 post to Truth Social in response to the GDP announcement. “AND THEY WILL ONLY GET BETTER!”

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