Jobs report updates: US added fewer jobs in December than expected, but unemployment dropped

It’s jobs day in America.

The US added 50,000 jobs in December, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly report on the employment situation.

Economists expected to see 70,000 jobs added in the final month of 2025, and an unemployment rate of 4.5%.

The report wraps up a year of a job market marked by a “Great Freeze” in which companies haven’t been hiring very much, employees haven’t been switching jobs a ton, but large-scale layoffs that would mark a deeper downturn haven’t materialized yet either.

Check back here for updates on the biggest job market data release of the month.