U.S. hiring slowed in first year of Trump’s second term, Labor Department data shows

A Labor Department report released Friday showed the U.S. economy added about 584,000 jobs over the past 12 months, a dramatic slowdown in hiring during President Trump’s first year back in office. The pace of job growth was the slowest since 2020 and well below the longer-run average; employers had created more than 2 million jobs in 2024, the final year under President Joseph R.

Biden Jr. The December figures were preliminary, and jobs totals for 2024 and 2025 are expected to be revised down substantially next month. The report and economists pointed to several factors. The decline in hiring likely reflects a steep slowdown in immigration that began at the end of Mr.

Biden’s term and became more pronounced after Mr. Trump returned and began mass deportations, reducing the pool of new workers. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent in December from 4 percent in January; employers posted fewer openings, offered smaller raises, and more people reported working part time because they could not find full-time positions.

Nearly all job growth in December and in 2025 occurred in health care, retail was largely stagnant, manufacturing lost about 68,000 jobs over the last 12 months on a seasonally adjusted basis, and a federal restructuring cost roughly 277,000 government jobs. Economists said Mr. Trump’s policy agenda — including deregulation, corporate tax cuts, tariffs, tougher border enforcement and federal reorganization — may be central to the slowdown.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Labor Department, U.s. Economy, Immigration Policy, Health Care