Companies added 41,000 hires for the month, a reversal from the loss of 29,000 in November, providing a positive sign to a labor market that otherwise struggled as 2025 came to a close.

Private company payrolls had declined in three of the four months prior to the December release.

The final tally was slightly less than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 48,000.

The report comes two days ahead of the more closely watched nonfarm payrolls count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

THIS IS GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY AND NOT SO GOOD FOR A END JAN RATE CUT.

We will see how the market reacts to this.