The US economy added 50,000 jobs in December, falling short of expectations and capping off the weakest year of job growth since the pandemic.
Hiring has been sluggish through 2025, which economists attributed to uncertainty around trade and obstinate inflation, as well as the concerns around AI’s impact on the labor market — factors that prompted the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates three consecutive times late in the year.
According to Friday’s data released by the Labor Department, the unemployment rate, however, dipped to 4.4% in December after creeping higher for several months, bolstering expectations that the central bank would hold rates steady this month.
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