Employers likely added 40,000 jobs in November as government releases report delayed by shutdown

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7. 41K Jobs Lost In Oct/Nov, Unemployed Rises To 4.6%

41K Jobs Lost In Oct/Nov, Unemployed Rises To 4.6%

December 16, 2025 Economy, Employment

The Washington Post reports:

The U.S. labor market lost 41,000 jobs over October and November, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6 percent, the highest since 2021, underscoring concerns about the strength of the economy.

The long-awaited jobs report by the Labor Department was delayed because of the federal government shutdown, creating headaches for economists and policymakers trying to assess how the labor market slowed this fall, as President Trump’s economic policies, including higher tariffs and immigration enforcement, continue to take hold.

The report does not contain the unemployment rate for October because the government could not collect survey data during the shutdown, a first for the agency since the survey began in 1948. The deferred resignations of tens of thousands of civil servants from the federal government, a program launched by the Trump administration earlier this year, weighed on the labor market in October.

Read the full article. 64,000 jobs were added in November, but the reported job losses in October result in the net negative figure.