Economic Update - 01/09/2026

The nation added 50,000 jobs in December.  October's growth was revised lower by 68,000 which resulted in October showing job losses of 173,000. November's data was revised lower by 8,000 which resulted in November now showing jobs growth of 56,000. Average weekly wage growth grew by 3.8% and the unemployment rate fell from 4.6% to 4.4%. Although the jobs growth remains positive, growth remains concentrated in a few industries. Leisure & Hospitality accounted for 94% of the net jobs growth. Seven industries showed positive growth, seven showed negative growth, and one industry was unchanged. December's jobs data will likely stimulate active debate at the Federal Reserve over whether to lower its overnight borrowing rate or leave it on hold for now.

The establishment survey showed a continued bifurcated or “K” shaped pattern as seven industries added jobs and seven reduced jobs. Leisure & Hospitality and Healthcare were the two industries with the strongest jobs growth. Retail Trade and Construction were the two industries with the lowest jobs growth.

Overall, employees continue to see their average weekly earnings grow at a faster pace than inflation as average weekly earnings rose 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. The Utilities and Transportation & Warehousing sectors experienced the highest weekly wage growth while the Education & Health Services industry had the lowest. When measured in dollars rather than growth, we continue to see a large disparity in dollar growth among the industry sectors. The Information industry sector experienced a $105.55 year-over-year increase in their average weekly wage while the Education & Healthcare sector only rose by $22.43. The average hourly worker did not see an increase in their wages due to working longer hours as the average work week fell from 34.3 hours to 34.2 hours.

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The Household Survey reported a 232,000 increase in the number of people employed but also reported the number of people unemployed fell by 278,000. This resulted in the unemployment rate falling from 4.5% to 4.4%. There continues to be disparity in the unemployment rate base on race.

• The Asian population has the lowest unemployment rate, and it was unchanged at 3.5%.
  
  
• The White population unemployment rate fell from 3.9% to 3.8%.
  
  
• The Hispanic or Latino population unemployment rate fell from 5.0% to 4.9%
  
  
• The Black population experienced the biggest improvement in its unemployment rate as it fell from 8.2% to 7.5%, but it still remains the highest.

The labor force contracted by 46,000 and the number of people not in the labor force grew by 229,000. As a result, the labor force participation rate fell from 62.5% to 62.4%. The number of people working part-time for economic reasons fell by 146,000. A potentially encouraging sign is the fact that the number of part-time workers fell by 740,000 while the number of full-time workers rose 890,000. Less encouraging news was the fact that the number of people working multiple jobs rose by 288,000. The number of people working multiple jobs as a percentage of total employed rose from 5.9% to 6.1%. People working multiple jobs is a potential sign of financial stress as continued high prices may be forcing them to work multiple jobs.

For those already unemployed, the news was not encouraging. The average duration of unemployment rose from 23.1 weeks to 24.4 weeks. The percentage of people who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more rose from 24.4% to 26.0%. This supports the narrative that the media has been discussing where it is taking longer to find a new job once you become unemployed.