December Jobs Report
- Nick Andriacchi
- Jan 19
- 4 min read
The Highlights:
· Declining Job Openings: Job openings dropped to 7.1 million—the lowest level since September 2024.
· Healthcare and Leisure and Hospitality led the way in terms of jobs gains in December.
· For December 2025, the American Staffing Association (ASA) reported continued, modest, growth in temporary and contract staffing, with their Staffing Index showing a 4.2% year-over-year increase for the month.
The December 2025 jobs report indicated a cooling U.S. labor market, with nonfarm payrolls rising by a modest 50,000, missing expectations of 73,000 and falling below the downwardly revised 56,000 gain in November.
Despite the sluggish hiring, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4% from 4.5% in November, reflecting a "low-hire, low-fire" environment where employers remained hesitant to add headcount but reluctant to initiate mass layoffs. The overall year, 2025, marked the weakest job growth since 2003, with gains heavily concentrated in healthcare, social assistance, and leisure/hospitality.
For a deeper dive….
• A more encompassing measure of unemployment (U6) that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons remained at 8.4%.
• Prime age labor force participation rate (ages 25-54) is 83.8%.
• The overall labor force participation is 62.4%. This is still .8% below the level of February 2020.
• In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 17 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $35.87. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.1 percent. In January, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 16 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $30.84.
• The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.1 hours in January. In manufacturing, the average workweek was little changed at 40.0 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 2.8 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.2 hour to 33.5 hours.
• APD reported that 41,000 jobs were added in December.
Source: ADP, BLS, CNBC, Fox News, American Staffing Association
JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – NOVEMBER 2025
The number of job openings was little changed at 7.1 million in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires were little changed and total separations were unchanged at 5.1 million each. Within separations, both quits (3.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.7 million) were little changed.
This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class. Job openings include all positions that are open on the last business day of the month. Hires and separations include all changes to the payroll during the entire month.
Job Openings
The number of job openings was little changed at 7.1 million in November but was down by 885,000 over the year. The job openings rate, at 4.3 percent, changed little over the month. The number of job openings decreased in accommodation and food services (-148,000); transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-108,000); and wholesale trade (-63,000). Job openings increased in construction (+90,000).
Hires
In November, the number and rate of hires were little changed at 5.1 million and 3.2 percent, respectively. The number of hires decreased in state and local government, excluding education (-39,000) and in state and local government education (-31,000). Hires increased in federal government (+11,000).
Separations
Total separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations include separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.
In November, the number and rate of total separations were unchanged at 5.1 million and 3.2 percent, respectively. The number of total separations decreased in state and local government, excluding education (-27,000).
In November, the number and rate of quits were little changed at 3.2 million and 2.0 percent, respectively. The number of quits increased in accommodation and food services (+208,000).
The number and rate of layoffs and discharges in November were little changed at 1.7 million and 1.1 percent, respectively. The number of layoffs and discharges decreased in accommodation and food services (-107,000); health care and social assistance (-52,000); and state and local government, excluding education (-26,000).
The number of other separations was little changed at 232,000, marking a series low.
Establishment Size Class
In November, establishments with 1 to 9 employees and establishments with 5,000 or more employees showed little or no change in job openings, hires, and separations rates.
October 2025 Revisions
The number of job openings for October was revised down by 221,000 to 7.4 million, the number of hires was revised up by 219,000 to 5.4 million, and the number of total separations was revised up by 19,000 to 5.1 million. Within separations, the number of quits was revised up by 32,000 to 3.0 million, the number of layoffs and discharges was revised down by 4,000 to 1.9 million, and the number of other separations was revised down by 9,000 to 246,000. For October, revisions were larger than normal since the alignment procedure was suspended for October preliminary data. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)
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The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey estimates for December 2025 are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
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