The January 2026 Jobs Report & December 2025 JOLTS: The Current U.S. Employment Situation

Industry Insights

The BLS Employment Situation Summary with January 2026 jobs data was released today instead of Friday due to the partial government shutdown, and things are looking bright: 130,000 jobs were added last month (economists were forecasting 55,000), and the unemployment rate decreased to 4.3%.

Change in Nonfarm Payroll Employment

September ’25	119K
October ’25	--
November ’25	64K
December ’25	50K
January ’26	130K

Unemployment Rate

September ’25	4.4%
October ’25	--
November ’25	4.6%
December ’25	4.4%
January ’26	4.3%

December 2025 JOLTS Summary

Job openings decreased to 6.5 million per the December 2025 JOLTS report, reaching the lowest amount since 2020, continuing a downward trend since September 2025, and falling short of the forecasted 7.2 million. Notable declines in specific industries include professional and business services (-257,000), retail trade (-195,000), and finance and insurance (-120,000).

Layoffs increased by 103,000 in transportation, warehousing, and utilities, while hires grew by 57,000 in health care and social assistance as well as accommodation and food services. Trade, transportation, and utilities had the highest increase in quits (+111,000).

Number of Unemployed Persons

September ’25	7.6M
October ’25	--
November ’25	7.8M
December ’25	7.5M
January ’26	7.4M

Additional January 2026 Jobs Report and December 2025 JOLTS Takeaways

The hires and total separations rates both ticked up just slightly to 3.3%; the quits rate and layoffs and discharges rate held steady at 2.0% and 1.1%, respectively.
Annual benchmark revisions showed 181,000 jobs were added in 2025, far below the previously reported total of 584,000; additionally, change in total nonfarm payroll employment was revised down by a combined 17,000 for November 2025 and December 2025.
Average wages increased by 0.4%, or $0.15, to $37.17.

Jobs Data by Industry

Health care and social assistance employment exploded with an increase of 123,500 jobs; construction and professional and business services employment also had healthy gains. Government lost 42,000 jobs.

Change in Employment by Industry

Industry	December	January
Construction	-11K	33K
Manufacturing	-8K	5K
Motor Vehicles & Parts	-0.7K	0.9K
Retail Trade	-25K	1.2K
Transportation & Warehousing	-6.6K	-11.2K
Utilities	0.8K	1K
Information	0K	-12K
Financial Activities	7K	-22K
Professional & Business Services	-9K	34K
Health Care & Social Assistance	38.5K	123.5K
Leisure & Hospitality	47K	1K
Other Services	5K	7K
Government	13K	-42K

“The surprisingly strong job gains in January were driven mainly by health care and social assistance. But it is enough to stabilize the job market and send the unemployment rate slightly lower. This is still a largely frozen job market, but it is stabilizing. That’s an encouraging sign to start the year, especially after the hiring recession in 2025,” said Heather Long, Chief Economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

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