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January 12, 2026

Sluggish hiring closes out a frustrating year for job seekers though unemployment slips to 4.4%

  • The data suggests a reluctance by businesses to add workers even as economic growth has picked up.
    • By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
    AP Economics Writer

    WASHINGTON — Sluggish December hiring concluded a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment remained low.

    Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.


     
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