Employers added just 50,000 jobs in December, affirming an end-of-the-year hiring slowdown even as the economy has shown significant growth. Jobs in movies and music fell by 2,100 to 394,300, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. Jobs among broadcast and content provides dropped slightly, about 100 positions to 334,000. The unemployment rate fell slightly, to 4.4%. The job gains were primarily in food services and drinking places, health care and social assistance. The retail trade lost 25,0 ...

Slowing job growth and cooling wages suggest holiday spending resilience may be tested into early 2026.Two-thirds of U.S. consumers still live paycheck to paycheck, increasingly out of necessity rather than choice.Retail sales were flat in October as paycheck-to-paycheck households pulled back on discretionary categories.After weeks of delay, a fresh wave of government data is finally offering a clearer snapshot of how consumers and workers in the United States have weathered months of tariff uncertainty, h ...