Per The Guardian, the news on jobs soured in December. Here are a few paragraphs and the headline that tell the tough news:
“US job openings dropped to a five-year low in December 2025, report shows – Data from November 2025 was also revised lower amid a softening in labor market conditions at the end of the year.
US job openings dropped to the lowest level in more than five years in December and data for the prior month was revised lower amid a softening in labor market conditions at the end of 2025.
Job openings, a measure of labor demand, decreased by 386,000 to 6.542m by the last day of December, the lowest level since September 2020, the labor department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or Jolts report, on Thursday.
Data for November was revised down to show 6.928m job openings instead of the previously reported 7.146m. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.20m unfilled jobs. Hiring increased by 172,000 positions to a still-low 5.293m in December.
The data came as other numbers showed a larger-than-expected increase in Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week, but the underlying trend remained consistent with a stable labor market.”
In short, companies are hiring less and unemployment applications are up. Rather than draw conclusions, we need to see if this souring trend continues or if it is seasonal.
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