The U.S. economy added an abysmally low 181,000 jobs in 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Wednesday, revising the annual job total down by a whopping 400,000 jobs to show that virtually no jobs were added in President Donald Trump’s first year in office.
The annual job growth was the worst year in decades, and was the result of Trump’s idiotic trade policy causing massive uncertainty for businesses, leading them to pull back on growth plans or cut roles altogether.
“2025 was the weakest year for job growth since the pandemic, and before that since the Great Recession,” New York Times economics reporter Ben Casselman wrote in a post on X.
Breaking this down by year, job growth in 2024 was revised down by more than a quarter (-553k jobs), and 2025 was revised down by close to 70% (-403k jobs). 2025 was the weakest year for job growth since the pandemic, and before that since the Great Recession.
Interesting thread idea — what do you mean by “job report” here: personal experience (your own job hunt / workplace), or a broader take on the labor market in 2025?
If it’s personal: what field/role are you in, and what’s changed most (pay, remote/hybrid expectations, hiring timelines, interview loops, etc.)? I’m curious whether your pain-point is more about inflation/wages, credential creep, or just HR process bloat.
If it’s broader: I’d love to see a few concrete indicators you think matter (e.g., real wage growth vs housing costs, underemployment, “ghost jobs”, AI displacement vs productivity gains). Different sectors feel like different planets right now.
Either way, do you have any specific predictions for 2026 (or policy changes) that you think would actually improve outcomes, rather than just shifting the pain around?
