December 2025 | Released January 27, 2026

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United States

Employment snapshot

• In December, among the 50 states and the District of Columbia unemployment fell in 8, rose in 21, and remained unchanged in 22.

• The highest unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in District of Columbia, and the lowest was 2.2 percent in Hawaii and South Dakota. Nationally, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 4.4 percent.

• In December, payroll jobs rose in 23 states and fell in 27. The largest payroll job percent increase was 0.4 percent in Delaware and Montana. The largest payroll job percent decline was 0.3 percent in Kansas and Nebraska.

Florida

Employment snapshot

• In December, Florida lost 4,200 net payroll jobs and the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 4.3 percent. In the prior month, Florida lost 1,900 net payroll jobs.

• Over the past 12 months, Florida added 40,000 net payroll jobs and the unemployment rate rose by 0.9 percentage points from 3.4 percent.

• Nationally, nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, or 0 percent. Florida ranks 26th in the nation for percentage gain in nonfarm payroll employment over the past 12 months.

• In December, Florida’s private sector lost 3,000 net private payroll jobs, and over the past 12 months it added 36,700 private payroll jobs. In the prior month, Florida lost 2,400 net private payroll jobs.

• In December, employment in Florida fell by 3,073, and over the past 12 months it fell by 45,973.

• Florida’s labor force participation rate remained steady at 57.5 percent in December and ranks 49th in the nation. In the past 12 months, the labor force participation rate has fallen by 0.6 percentage points.

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Florida

Payroll employment

• Florida lost 4,200 net payroll jobs, or 0 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis during December. In the prior month, Florida lost 1,900 jobs. Florida nonfarm payroll employment has increased in 6 of the past 12 months.

• Nationally, nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, or 0 percent. Florida ranks 26th in the nation for percentage gain in nonfarm payroll employment over the past 12 months.

• Florida lost 3,000 private sector jobs, or 0 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis during December. In the prior month, Florida lost 2,400 jobs. Florida private sector payroll employment has increased in 6 of the past 12 months.

• Nationally, private sector payroll jobs rose by 37,000 jobs in December, or 0 percent. Florida is tied for 27th in the nation for percentage gain in private sector payroll employment over the past 12 months.

From November 2025 to December 2025:

• The best performing sectors were Private Education and Health Services (+4,200) and Leisure and Hospitality (+3,400).
• The worst performing sectors were Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-10,500) and Federal Government (-1,100).

From December 2024 to December 2025:

• The best performing sectors were Private Education and Health Services (+51,400) and State and Local Government (+13,200).
• The worst performing sectors were Federal Government (-9,900) and Construction (-7,500).

Florida

Labor force

The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the civilian noninstitutionalized population age 16 and older who are employed or actively looking for work.

• The labor force participation rate in Florida remained unchanged at 57.5 percent in December.

• Florida ranks 49th in the nation.

• The 10-year high for the labor force participation rate in Florida was 59.7 percent occurring in October 2019, and the 10-year low was 53.8 percent in April 2020.

• The national labor force participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 62.4 percent in December.