Hiring slowed at the end of last year, as employers added an estimated 50,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday.
December’s estimated job gains, which are subject to revision, capped off what was a sluggish year for the US labor market.
2025 was the weakest year of employment growth outside of recession years since 2003, BLS data shows.
The labor market, which was already slowing heading into 2025, cooled sharply as hiring stalled out across most industries, a pullback economists attributed to high uncertainty (in part due to massive shifts in trade and immigration policy) as well as stubborn inflation and high interest rates.
Economists were expecting a net gain of 55,000 jobs in December and an unemployment rate of 4.5%.
Claude Code Max plan - $2,400 / year
Average Employee Benefits - $20k+ / year
Marginal utility of an additional white collar human is quickly approaching negative.
The obvious result will start to play out in the next couple of years...
It's striking to me how erratic the Trump M-o-M numbers have been. That signals that we're going through a significant correction.
Correction in the size of the administrative state
The size correction is less significant than the scope correction. All the shit that's been downstream of USAID, ED, and CPB is clearing the system.
Indeed, closing the spigot without a deflationary spiral of the ponzi has been pretty magical to watch, like moving a bridge during rush hour traffic.
The best still yet to come, pent up tax returns / witholdings going to hit the economy like stimmy checks without the stimmy optics right into mid-terms... fucking golf clap.
https://media.tenor.com/Bxq5uw0rJbUAAAAM/jack-nicholson-the-shining.gif
50k jobs is basically a stall showing how high rates and policy chaos finally hit the real economy