{"id":882570,"date":"2026-01-02T02:23:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/02\/u-s-payroll-growth-stalls-as-hiring-weakens-unemployment-rises-and-wage-growth-slows\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T02:23:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:23:03","slug":"u-s-payroll-growth-stalls-as-hiring-weakens-unemployment-rises-and-wage-growth-slows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/02\/u-s-payroll-growth-stalls-as-hiring-weakens-unemployment-rises-and-wage-growth-slows\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Payroll Growth Stalls as Hiring Weakens, Unemployment Rises, and Wage Growth Slows"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-testid=\"wp-styles-root\">\n<h2 id=\"unemployment-rate-rises-as-participation-holds-steady\">Unemployment Rate Rises as Participation Holds Steady<\/h2>\n<p>The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, exceeding market expectations and marking an increase from earlier in the fall . The number of unemployed climbed to 7.8 million, while the labor force participation rate held at 62.5%, suggesting the rise in joblessness was driven by hiring softness rather than workers re-entering the labor market . Longer-term indicators showed little improvement, with long-term unemployment steady at 1.9 million.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sector-performance-highlights-defensive-hiring\">Sector Performance Highlights Defensive Hiring<\/h2>\n<p>Job gains were concentrated in health care, which added 46,000 positions, and construction, which expanded payrolls by 28,000 . These increases were partially offset by continued losses in federal government employment, down 6,000 in November following a steep October decline tied to deferred resignations. Transportation and warehousing shed 18,000 jobs, extending a downtrend from earlier in the year. Most other major industries, including manufacturing, financial activities, and professional services, showed little change.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"wage-growth-slows-as-earnings-edge-higher\">Wage Growth Slows as Earnings Edge Higher<\/h2>\n<p>Average hourly earnings rose by 0.1% to $36.86, bringing annual wage growth to 3.5% . The average workweek edged up to 34.3 hours, offering limited support to aggregate income growth. These figures suggest easing wage pressure, a key variable for Federal Reserve policy expectations.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"market-forecast-bearish-bias-for-risk-assets\">Market Forecast: Bearish Bias for Risk Assets<\/h2>\n<p>The combination of subdued payroll growth, rising unemployment, and cooling wage momentum supports a cautious near-term outlook. For traders, the data reinforces expectations that economic activity is losing pace, favoring a defensive stance across risk-sensitive assets. In the short term, this backdrop leans bearish for equities while supporting bonds and rate-sensitive instruments as markets continue to price a slower U.S. growth profile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> James Hyerczyk<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fxempire.com\/news\/article\/u-s-payroll-growth-stalls-as-hiring-weakens-unemployment-rises-and-wage-growth-slows-1567892\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unemployment Rate Rises as Participation Holds Steady The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, exceeding market expectations and marking an increase from earlier in the fall . The number of unemployed climbed to 7.8 million, while the labor force participation rate held at 62.5%, suggesting the rise in joblessness was driven by hiring softness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":882571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23317,33478],"tags":[5805,12599],"class_list":["post-882570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-growth","tag-growth","tag-payroll"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}