Strip out health care and social services, and the U.S. lost jobs in 2025
Without hiring from the health care and social assistance industries, the U.S. economy lost jobs in 2025—an uncomfortable reality hidden beneath modest payroll gains and an improved unemployment rate. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, while the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. But the December…