{"id":279356,"date":"2026-01-28T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T15:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/?p=279356"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:09:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:09:53","slug":"in-a-new-year-old-uncertainties-remain-january-2026s-race-jobs-and-the-economy-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncrc.org\/in-a-new-year-old-uncertainties-remain-january-2026s-race-jobs-and-the-economy-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"In a New Year, Old Uncertainties Remain: January 2026\u2019s Race, Jobs and the Economy Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

2025 was a year of slowing job gains, a bifurcated consumer economy and trade war uncertainties. These negative trends will likely continue and intensify in 2026. The last jobs report for the year produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics only further confirms the anemic nature of the jobs market. The economy added a modest 50,000 jobs last December, with the vast majority of gains being in the healthcare and social assistance sectors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year saw a tremendous slowdown in job gains, with <\/span>over 600,000 Black women<\/span><\/a> leaving the workforce. While the Black unemployment rate receded from its multi-year high of 8.2% last November, it remains elevated relative to its level at the beginning of 2025. The Hispanic unemployment rate reached its highest point in 4 years (5.5%), led by a surge in joblessness for Hispanic women.<\/span><\/p>\n

The major theme of the 2025 labor market was the unwillingness of companies to hire applicants and the relatively low number of layoffs. Dubbed the <\/span>low-hire\/low-fire jobs market<\/span><\/a>, it was also marked by the dominance of just one industry: healthcare. Without the healthcare industry, the economy would have lost a staggering 129,000 jobs last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The chart below details the fact that the economy added a net (gains minus losses) 584,000 jobs last year, while healthcare added a net 713,000 jobs:<\/span><\/p>\n