With the New Year now underway, we should take stock of where we are. In terms of employment and unemployment, it’s cloudy with a cold wind blowing.
Between November 2024 and 2025, America added 2.6 million persons to the number employed. That’s a 1.6% increase, but it’s only 78% of those 3.3 million who joined the labor force. Put differently, 710,000 added persons became unemployed in the past year.
Although the Labor Department reported the unemployment rate rose just 0.4% (from 4.2% to 4.6%) it was a 10% increase in the number unemployed and meant 22% of the added workers did not find jobs. The nation had 7.8 million unemployed persons. That’s nearly a million more than the population of Indiana.
In case you didn’t notice, this is contrary to the picture painted by our president.
Which groups were hardest hit by these serious unemployment figures? Men and women age 20 and over both saw their unemployment rates rise slightly from 3.9% to 4.1%, teenagers 16 to 19 had unemployment increases from 13.1% to 16.3%.
Black workers saw their unemployment rates rise by 1.9% (6.4% to 8.3%) while white workers had a 0.1% increase (3.8% to 3.9%). But then, in a nation where DEI is outlawed, we can’t consider diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Hispanic or Latino unemployment rates fell from 5.3% a year earlier to 5.0% this most recent November. That could be thanks to the detention and deportation of those persons. If you are out looking for a job, the ICE vacuum might just sweep you up.
Since we see a continued neglect of our failing and discouraged students, it’s no surprise that those with less than a high school diploma have a 6.8% unemployment rate compared to 3.7% for all persons 25 and older.
Of the 7.8 million unemployed persons in November 2025, 46% were either those who lost a job or had completed a temporary job. That number had increased by less than 5% from a year earlier. However, those reentering the job market with experience were another third of the unemployed; their numbers increased by 20% and were two-thirds of the increase in unemployment.
People leaving jobs accounted for just 11% of the unemployed, about the same as a year earlier. If the job market is getting worse, as this report indicates, we wouldn’t expect job leavers to be a big portion of the unemployed. It’s too risky to give up what you have, in order to find something better.
It is concerning that the biggest number, 7.8 million persons unemployed in November last year, was the highest since August of 2021, four years and three months earlier.
Morton Marcus is an economist formerly at the IU Kelley School of Business. Reach him at mortonjmarcus@gmail.com. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
