Workspan Daily News Bytes for Jan. 9, 2026

U.S. Added 50,000 Jobs in December; Unemployment Slid to 4.4%

American nonfarm employers added 50,000 jobs in December, mostly in line with economist expectations, and the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.4%, according to data released Friday, Jan. 9, by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The mild stabilization seen in the December data (analysts anticipated 50,000 to 70,000 new jobs) comes on the heels of concerning reports covering November and October. For those latter two months, the BLS on Jan. 9 revised the jobs figures downward — from 64,000 jobs added to 56,000 added for November and 105,000 jobs lost to 173,000 lost for October. December’s 4.4% jobless rate was less than the 4.6% posted in the November report.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.9%), adult women (3.9%), teenagers (15.7%), Whites (3.8%), Blacks (7.5%), Asians (3.6%) and Hispanics (4.9%) showed little or no change over the month.

The number of people jobless less than five weeks edged down to 2.3 million in December. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little over the month, at 1.9 million, but is up by 397,000 over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 26.0% of all unemployed people in December.

Both the labor force participation rate (62.4%) and employment-population ratio (59.7%) changed little in December. These measures have shown little change over the year.

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 5.3 million, changed little but is up by 980,000 over the year. The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed, at 6.2 million, but is up by 684,000 over the year.

Among industries:

Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up (+27,000). Food services and drinking places added an average of 12,000 jobs per month in 2025, similar to the average increase of 11,000 jobs per month in 2024.
Healthcare employment continued its upward trend (+21,000), with a gain of 16,000 jobs in hospitals. Healthcare employment rose by an average of 34,000 per month in 2025, less than the average monthly gain of 56,000 in 2024.
Social assistance employment continued to trend up (+17,000), mostly in individual and family services (+13,000).
Retail trade lost 25,000 jobs. Over the month, employment declined in warehouse clubs, supercenters and other general merchandise retailers (-19,000), and in food and beverage retailers (-9,000). Electronics and appliance retailers added 5,000 jobs. Retail trade employment showed little net change in both 2024 and 2025.
Federal government employment was little changed (+2,000). Since reaching a peak in January 2025, federal government employment is down by 277,000, or 9.2%.
Employment showed little or no change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; professional and business services; and other services.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $37.02. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased 3.8%. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, at $31.76, changed little (+3 cents).

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged down by 0.2 hour to 39.9 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.7 hours.

Services Fuel Private-Sector Job Growth; Annual Pay Up 4.4%

U.S. private-sector employment increased by 41,000 jobs in December, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report, released Wednesday, Jan. 7.

Payroll growth was primarily seen in service-providing industries as education and health-related fields added 39,000 jobs and leisure and hospitality contributed 24,000. Trade, transportation and utilities gained 11,000 while financial services rose by 6,000. Meanwhile, significant losses were seen in professional and business services (-29,000) and information services (-12,000).

Goods-producing industries lost 3,000, due to a drop of 5,000 in manufacturing.

November’s jobs figure also was revised slightly upward, from -32,000 to -29,000.

“Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.

Additionally, year-over-year pay for job-stayers rose 4.4% in December, unchanged from November. For job-changers, the pace of pay growth accelerated to 6.6% from 6.3%.

Financial services had the largest median annual pay bump for job-stayers, at 5.0%. Information services and professional/business services were near the bottom of the list, at 4.1%.

Job-Finding Expectations Hit Record Low in December

The probability of finding a job hit a record low of 43.1% in December, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Survey of Consumer Expectations, released Thursday, Jan. 8.

The decline was driven by respondents with annual household incomes below $100,000, and it was most pronounced for those above age 60 and those with a high school degree or less.

Additionally, the survey showed respondents’ expectations of losing their job rose to the highest mean probability since April 2025 (15.2%), while the probability of those voluntarily quitting dropped to the lowest rate since July 2023 (17.5%).

Retirement Readiness, Financial Anxiety Top of Mind for U.S. Workers

Forty-eight percent of U.S. workers believe they’ll need at least $1 million to retire comfortably — up from 37% who cited that dollar figure in 2024. Only 27% expect to actually reach that goal. That is according to a new Retirement Readiness Report by financial services company Betterment at Work.

Key findings from the report include:

Financial anxiety is at an all-time high, but long-term optimism endures.
- Financial anxiety among workers has steadily climbed over the last five years, from 71% in 2022 to 90% in 2025.
- Inflation (65%), credit card debt (40%) and housing costs (31%) are the top stressors.
- Despite this, 71% still feel at least somewhat confident they’ll be able to retire comfortably.
Retirement expectations soar past savings reality.
- 54% of workers have considered delaying retirement, with higher rates among women (58%) than men (48%).
Generational and gender gaps persist.
- Gen Z workers are the most confident about retirement (88%), yet the most anxious about day-to-day finances (73%).
- Gen X workers are the least confident (61%) they’ll have enough saved to retire.
- Men are more confident than women in both retirement knowledge (89% vs. 69%) and savings confidence (81% vs. 62%).
Student loan debt continues to weigh on employees.
- 54% of employees say student debt contributes significantly to their financial anxiety.
- 85% of borrowers would be more likely to accept a job from an employer offering student loan repayment support.
- 54% of these respondents have made or plan to make changes to their repayment strategies in light of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Corporate Pension Funding Status Shows Strong Improvement

The funded status of the nation’s largest corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans improved significantly in 2025, according to an analysis by consulting firm WTW. WTW examined pension plan data for 349 Fortune 1000 companies that sponsor U.S. DB pension plans and have a December fiscal year-end date. The aggregate pension funded status of these plans at the end of 2025 is estimated to be 104%, an increase from 101% at the end of 2024. Pension obligations declined slightly from $1.16 trillion at the end of 2024 to an estimated $1.11 trillion at the end of 2025.

According to the analysis, pension plan assets remained strong in 2025, finishing the year at $1.16 trillion. Overall investment returns are estimated to have averaged 11% in 2025, although returns varied significantly by asset class.

“In 2025, the primary driver of improved funded statuses has been strong market returns, with interest rates remaining relatively stable and having minimal impact on pension liabilities,” said Jonathan Sterbanz, WTW’s senior director of retirement. “Although plan sponsors have taken many steps to reduce funded status risk, they are still positioned to benefit from strong market performance, particularly as more plans move into a surplus position. This positions these plan sponsors to consider their options for deploying that surplus.”

Figures and Facts of the Week

12: The percentage of surveyed U.S. workers who say their wages have kept up with inflation, according to a new report by career website ResumeNow. The report also found only 17% of surveyed workers can comfortably cover essentials and save, while 92% have cut back spending in 2025, including essentials such as groceries and healthcare.
43: The percentage of surveyed U.S. workers who say there are few or no opportunities for growth at their current job, according to a 2025 Workplace Culture and Trends Study by experience management platform SurveyMonkey. Additionally, 39% of surveyed workers are actively pursuing growth or change in their career path, and 18% feel stuck or are unsure of what’s next for their careers.
48: The percentage of surveyed Americans who say they are more stressed heading into 2026 than they were at the beginning of 2025, according to the 2026 New Year’s Resolutions Study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement. Among those respondents who say they are more stressed financially compared to last year, the top reasons include: costs of day-to-day expenses (54%), income is too low (46%), not saving enough for an emergency fund (39%), too much debt (35%), high healthcare costs (34%) and lack of job security (33%).
57: The percentage of surveyed global executives focused on fast-tracking artificial intelligence (AI) implementation, according to a survey by financial services company BDO.
1,786: The median bonus payout in dollars for all U.S. workers in 2024, according to ADP payroll data. The payrolls processing firm recently analyzed six years of data and found bonuses are becoming less common. In 2024, fewer than 40% of workers received a bonus.

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