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PBS News Hour

The mounting economic challenges weakening the job market

Season 2026 Episode 9 | 7m 25s

The U.S. economy added a modest 50,000 jobs in December. It was below expectations and capped the weakest year for job growth since the pandemic. Employers added a total of 584,000 jobs for all of 2025, a big drop from the 2 million created in 2024. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4%, but the jobs report points to a soft market. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.

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