Net U.S. job creation came in well below expectations for December 2025, capping the year off on a tepid note. Employers added only 50,000 jobs in that last month of the year. This is the starkest job growth since the onset of the Covid pandemic in early 2020. This decline in employment opportunities can be attributed to a combination of factors including recent policy changes implemented by President Donald Trump.
The Labor Department’s report makes clear that the unemployment rate has dropped down to 4.4%. This number masks a troubling trend of declining net job growth. By 2025, the U.S. economy was only adding an average of 49,000 jobs a month. That sum is in stark juxtaposition to the expected loss of two million jobs per month starting in 2024. It would be quite the turnabout and a sign of a cooling labor market, with hiring having slowed significantly in the last year.
President Trump’s policy reversals have been instrumental in forging today’s dismal employment picture. Tariffs placed on other imports have hurt other industries and put workers in them at risk of hiring fewer jobs. Trump’s immigration crackdown has choked off the labor supply in sectors that have long depended on immigrant workers. This unfortunate restriction further muddies the waters of an already tight job market. Cuts to federal and state government spending have further exacerbated this economic hole, squeezing public sector job growth.
Despite these challenges, fears of mass layoffs have not come to pass, giving workers at least some measure of stability in a cooler job market. The general mood is one of trepidation as employers continue to work through a rocky economic environment.
The depressing employment numbers for December are indicative of a frightening trajectory. The U.S. job market has come to an almost complete standstill for most of 2025. With many workers still recovering from the widespread cuts experienced during the Covid pandemic, the path to robust job growth remains uncertain.