The US unemployment rate edged down to 4.4% in December 2025, from a revised 4.5% in November, which had marked the highest level since October 2021. The reading also came in slightly below market expectations of 4.5%. The number of unemployed fell by 278,000 to 7.50 million, while employment increased by 232,000 to 163.99 million. Meanwhile, the labor force declined by 46,000 to 171.50 million, pushing the labor force participation rate down 0.1 percentage point to 62.4%. The broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers and those working part-time for economic reasons, eased to 8.4% in December from 8.7% in November, pointing to some improvement in underlying labor market slack.
