Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
The U.S. economy added 50,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate was reported at 4.4% for the month, marking little change from the previous month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Overall, 584,000 jobs were added in 2025, putting last year on the list of poorest year for job creation since 2009.
The labor force participation rate and the employment-population ratio remained mostly unchanged in December, hitting 62.4% and 59.7% respectively. In the retail trade sector, 25,000 jobs were lost in December and little change was seen in jobs in the construction, manufacturing and transportation and warehousing sectors.
Various factors have influenced the job market and the reporting of labor statistics in the past year, including the elimination of tens of thousands of government jobs in October and the longest U.S. government shutdown in history in November.
BLS revised its reporting of the number of jobs lost in October, initially reporting a loss of 105,000 and now reporting a total loss of 173,000. November numbers were also revised. Initial reports stated 64,000 jobs were added in November 2025. This number has been revised down to 56,000.
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.3% in December, reaching $37.02. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees saw a 3-cent change, reaching $31.76.
