Jobs Report: Revisions Show 403,000 Fewer Jobs in 2025 Than Originally Reported
The monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 130,000 jobs added in January, nearly double economists’ expectations. Dig deeper, however, and you’ll see the uneven and stagnant job growth that’s become typical for labor data.
Three industries added jobs last month: healthcare (+82,000 jobs), social assistance (+42,000 jobs), and construction (+33,000 jobs). Federal employment declined by 34,000 jobs as employees who accepted deferred resignation offers dropped off the tally. Financial activities lost 22,000 jobs.
Other industries were essentially unchanged for the month, reflecting the stagnation that’s also characterized recent reports. Further, this month’s report also contained annual benchmark revisions, which revised total employment for 2025 from +584,000 jobs to +181,000 jobs.
That means that the economy added an average of 15,083 jobs per month for all of last year.
Pretty grim.
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What Experts Are Saying
“The data argue against simple stories, especially partisan ones. The low-hire, low-fire labor market, paired with solidly expanding economic activity, is unusual and raises tough questions. We may not be careening toward a recession, but we are failing people entering the workforce, and workers’ wages are not broadly sharing in the faster productivity growth.” – Claudia Sahm, writing about recent economic data, including labor market projections, at Stay-at-Home Macro
“Instead of an economy that was steadily adding jobs through 2025 and is only now cooling, the revised data suggest job growth had already slowed to a near-stall pace last year. The labor market was not running hot and then suddenly weakening. It was already operating at a much lower speed than earlier estimates suggested.” – Thomas J. Thompson, Chief Economist, Havas
“Matt Bush, an economist at Guggenheim Investments, noted that, ‘Today’s downward revisions to last year’s job numbers imply that productivity in 2025 was maybe even stronger than we realized and may be revised up.’ It can sound somewhat counterintuitive, because the reduced job gains are a disappointment, but productivity is a function of business output per hour. And, for now, it appears U.S. businesses have been able to produce even more output, while adding far fewer workers than usual.” – Talmon Joseph Smith, The New York Times
“Sluggish hiring of seasonal workers during the holidays may have boosted the number. If fewer were laid off in January, that would translate into a stronger reading after the Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusts for typical seasonal fluctuations.” – Lydia DePillis, The New York Times
Just Give Me the Data, Please
The Employment Situation Summary by the numbers:
Total nonfarm employment: +130,000 jobs
Unemployment rate: 4.3% (down from 4.4% the previous month)
Revisions to previous jobs reports: -17,000 jobs than originally reported for November and December, -403,000 jobs than originally reported for all of 2025
Long-term unemployed: 1.8 million for the month (up 386,000 for the year)
Labor force participation rate: 62.5%
Employment-population ratio: 59.8%
People employed part-time for economic reasons: 5.3 million (up 980,000 for the year)
People not in the labor force who want jobs and have looked for work in the last year: 4.9 million (down 453,000 from the previous month but up 410,000 over the year)
Discouraged workers: 475,000 (little changed)
Average hourly earnings: $37.17 (+15 cents or 0.4%)
Industries that added jobs:
Healthcare (+82,000 jobs)
Social assistance (+42,000 jobs)
Construction (+33,000 jobs)
Industries that lost jobs:
Federal government (-34,000 jobs)
Financial activities (-22,000 jobs)
Industries that remained essentially flat:
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Manufacturing
Wholesale trade
Retail trade
Transportation and warehousing
Information
Professional and business services
Leisure and hospitality
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