December Nonfarm Payrolls

December Nonfarm Payrolls
Updated: 10-Jan-26 09:35 ET

Highlights

The employment situation in December was better than feared and not entirely bad, unless one is counted among the long-term unemployed.

Key Factors

December nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 55,000). The 3-month average for total nonfarm payrolls decreased to -22,000 from -3,000. November nonfarm payrolls revised to 56,000 from 64,000. October nonfarm payrolls revised to -173,000 from -105,000.
December private sector payrolls increased by 37,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 50,000). November nonfarm payrolls revised to 50,000 from 69,000. October private sector payrolls revised to 1,000 from 52,000.
December unemployment rate was 4.4% (Briefing.com consensus: 4.5%) versus downwardly revised 4.5% (from 4.6%) in November. Persons unemployed for 27 weeks or more accounted for 26.0% of the unemployed versus 24.4% in November. The U6 unemployment rate, which accounts for unemployed and underemployed workers, decreased to 8.4% from 8.7% in November.
December average hourly earnings were up 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) versus an upwardly revised 0.2% increase (from 0.1%) in November. Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen 3.8% versus 3.6% for the 12 months ending in November.
The average workweek in December was 34.2 hours (Briefing.com consensus: 34.3) versus 34.3 hours in November. The manufacturing workweek dipped 0.2 hour to 39.9 hours. Factory overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours.
The labor force participation rate decreased to 62.4% from 62.5% in November.
The employment-population ratio increased to 59.7% from 59.6% in November.

Big Picture

Granted, the employment situation could be better, but the key takeaway is that the low unemployment rate will temper concerns that consumer spending and the economy will slow rapidly due to a weak labor market. It will also likely keep the Fed's next rate cut at bay.