Total nonfarm payroll rose by 130,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.3%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — stark, unexpected improvements in the face of significant downward revisions for the whole of 2025’s jobs data, economists said.
While January clocked large gains, the Employment Situation report for 2025 as a whole was revised down to 181,000 jobs gained, the lowest pace of jobs growth since the height of the pandemic, Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s chief economist, said in a post.
This report comes on the heels of December’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, also from BLS, which showed that the economy was down 1 million jobs between the start and end of 2025.
“This balance is precarious,” Laura Ullrich, director of economic research in North America for the Indeed Hiring Lab, said in a statement.
Clarity regarding the true state of the economy remains out of reach as of yet, she said.
“In the face of ongoing uncertainty, workers are likely to continue hugging the jobs they do have and unemployed workers will continue to face limited choices and long job hunts,” Ullrich continued.
Experts previously told HR Dive that recruiters are likely to approach 2026 through precision hiring — focusing only on hiring for positions that are in the highest demand, particularly those tied to innovation and transformation.
“Employers tell us they are being deliberate with the jobs they add, focusing on work tied to execution, service delivery, and long-term capability,” Ger Doyle, regional president of North America at ManpowerGroup, said in a statement regarding January’s BLS report. “As budget cycles progress through the first quarter, we expect a clearer sense of where sustained demand will take hold.”