Key Points
- Weekly jobless claims fell slightly to 209,000, staying near historic lows. Major companies like Amazon and UPS announced layoffs this week.
- The economy added only 584,000 jobs in 2025, the slowest pace since 2003.
- The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady on Wednesday.
- Economists say companies are freezing hiring rather than firing existing workers.
Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, even as big companies like Amazon and UPS grabbed headlines with new layoff announcements. The Labor Department reported on Thursday that initial claims dropped by 1,000 to hit 209,000. This number remains historically low, suggesting that while businesses are hesitant to hire new staff, they are not firing their current workers in mass numbers either.
However, the mood across the country tells a different story. Recent government data paints a picture of a stagnating job market. In 2025, the U.S. economy added only 584,000 jobs in total. That averages out to about 50,000 a month, a massive drop from the 2 million jobs created in 2024. Outside of recession years, this represents the slowest annual job growth since 2003.
Economists describe this current trend as “low hire, low fire.” Companies are keeping the workers they have, but are closing the door to new applicants. Job openings fell to 7.1 million in November, down from 7.4 million the month before. Experts blame this freeze on uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s tariffs and the lingering pain of high interest rates from previous years.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve decided to leave interest rates alone. After cutting rates three times late last year to help the softening market, central bank officials now say the labor situation is stabilizing. They seemingly want to see more data before making another move to lower borrowing costs.
The total number of people currently collecting unemployment benefits dropped to 1.83 million, the lowest level since September 2024. Investors and job seekers are now looking ahead to next Friday’s monthly jobs report, where analysts expect another modest gain of around 50,000 positions. For now, the job market isn’t crashing, but it certainly isn’t growing much either.
