US December non-farm payrolls +50K vs +60K expected

  • The December 2025 US employment situation report
nonfarm payrolls neon
  • Prior was +64K (revised to +56K)
  • October was -105K (revised to -173K)
  • Unemployment rate 4.4% vs 4.5% expected
  • Prior unemployment rate 4.6%
  • Unrounded unemployment 4.375% vs 4.564% prior
  • Participation rate 62.4% vs 62.5% prior
  • U6 underemployment rate 8.4% vs 8.7% prior
  • Average hourly earnings +0.3% m/m vs +0.3% expected
  • Average hourly earnings +3.8% y/y vs +3.6% expected
  • Average weekly hours 34.2 vs 34.3 expected
  • Change in private payrolls +37K vs +64K expected
  • Change in manufacturing payrolls -8K vs -5K expected
  • Government payrolls +27K vs -5K in November

The market was pricing in a 12% chance of a January rate cut before the data and a 40% chance of a cut at the March meeting. For the year, there were 54.7 bps of easing priced in. The US 10-year yield was at 4.187% and USD/JPY was trading at 157.57.

The US dollar is mostly lower on this as it reacts to the headline and the poor revisions. I would argue that the market was priced for an upside surprise given that most of the pre-jobs employment numbers were upbeat. The good news in the report is the fall in the unemployment rate, which -- without rounding fell nearly 0.2 pp, though a chunk of that was due to people dropping out of the labor force.

In terms of markets, USD/JPY is quickly down to 157.44 in a broad USD selloff. S&P 500 futures are up 22 points and 10-year yields are unchanged from prior to the report.

non-farm payrolls chart
non-farm payrolls, monthly
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