America Adds 50,000 Jobs, But Those 70,000 Stayed Home for Holidays
KEY POINTS
- •The US added 50,000 jobs in December 2025, missing the economist expectation of 70,000.
- •Unemployment decreased to 4.4% despite job revisions showing 76,000 fewer roles in October and November.
- •Leisure and hospitality led job growth with 47,000 new hires, while retail and construction lost jobs.
December 2025’s job report served up exactly 50,000 new jobs, a polite shrug below the expected 70,000 dreamed up by economists wearing their Monday best. The unemployment rate somehow tumbled to 4.4%, beating the predicted 4.5% and making statisticians question their glasses. Nicole Bachaud from ZipRecruiter warned workers their raises dancing slightly above inflation (3.8% from $35.68 to $37.02/hour) will soon freeze as wages settle like last year's leftover fruitcake. Leisure and hospitality grabbed 47,000 of those holiday gigs, while retail and construction threw respective tantrums losing 25,000 and 11,000 jobs, proving some sectors hate December more than Scrooge. Almost a million unlucky souls preferred part-time while dreaming full-time dreams, thanks to truncated hours and scarce full-time gigs. Meanwhile, Wall Street smiled as traders welcomed this ‘weaker’ growth — cue rate cut optimism fueled by spreadsheets and fairy dust. Oh, and hey, those 76,000 jobs quietly vanished in earlier months’ revisions, like socks in dryer black holes. Holiday job prospects may be statistically noisy, but hey—at least Mark Hamrick said that with a straight face.
Share the Story
We added 50,000 jobs but still somehow lost 76,000 in revisions. America’s job market sounds like my group chat: budget cuts and ghosting.
Wage growth beats inflation by a sliver, allowing workers to dream of affording avocado toast again… in 2027.
Leisure and hospitality hired 47,000 — looks like bartenders are the true MVPs of the sluggish economy.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/9/2026 | Author: Juliana Kaplan,Madison Hoff,Jennifer Sor,Will Martin
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