The US economy added 50K payrolls in December 2025, less than a downwardly revised 56K in November and below forecasts of 60K. Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places (27K), health care (21K) and social assistance (17K) while retail trade lost 25K jobs. Also, federal government employment was little changed in December and employment showed little or no change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; professional and business services; and other services. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised down by 68K to -173K and the change for November was revised down by 8K to +56K. With these revisions, employment in October and November combined is 76K lower than previously reported.
