Key Takeaways
- The U.S. economy lost 105,000 jobs in October and added 64,000 in November.
- The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, higher than the 4.5% expected.
- The report, which was delayed by the government shutdown, showed that the job market’s recent slump was deepening.
Job creation slowed and the unemployment rate rose this autumn, according to data that had been delayed by the government shutdown.
The U.S. economy lost 105,000 jobs in October and added 64,000 in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November from 4.4% in September, reaching a fresh high since 2021.
November’s job creation and the unemployment rate were both higher than forecasters expected, according to a survey of U.S. economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
“The final jobs report released in 2025 showed the labor market still struggling to maintain its footing,” wrote Wells Fargo economists.
The report showed a continuation of the trends that began this summer: a sharp slowdown in hiring due to uncertainty among business leaders about tariff policy, as well as from President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
October was the third month this year in which the economy lost jobs. Before June, U.S. employers had added jobs every month since the pandemic.
What This Means For The Economy
With job creation flatlining and the unemployment rate steadily rising, the labor market is becoming a weak point in the U.S. economy.
The report also highlighted the impact of deferred government layoffs made earlier in the year when President Donald Trump took office and began slashing federal programs and jobs, offering many of them deferred buyouts that took effect in October.
The bureau released only some of its usual monthly data for October. The survey of households used to calculate the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and other statistics was not conducted because of the government shutdown.
The disruptions caused some economists to take the report with a grain of salt, and officials at the Federal Reserve likely will too. The Fed has cut its key interest rate at its last three meetings to support the faltering job market. It could again at its next meeting in January if the hiring slump continues, although Tuesday’s report may not be too influential in that decision.
“The Fed is unlikely to put much weight on today’s report given data disruptions,” Kay Haigh, global co-head of fixed income and liquidity solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, wrote in a commentary.
Where Are Those Jobs Coming From?
The bulk of the job creation in November came from health and education services, which added 65,000 jobs, and construction, which added 28,000. Health care and education have been the only real source of job growth in recent months, with employment declining in most other sectors.
That includes manufacturing, which lost 5,000 jobs in November and has lost jobs every month since May. The manufacturing decline is especially noteworthy because Trump’s tariffs were intended to protect U.S. factories and boost manufacturing employment.
“Businesses are not hiring as they adjust to tariffs, [uncertain] conditions and AI,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote in a commentary. “The result is about 700,000 more unemployed Americans than there were a year ago. This is painful for many middle-class families who are losing income.”
