Here’s the Quick Scoop : in the U.S. labor market, 2025 ended with very weak hiring, and 2026 started with a net job loss in the first few months before a strong May rebound partly offset it. In 2025, employers added about 584,000 jobs overall, while 2026 saw a net loss of 112,000 jobs in the first four months, followed by an 88,000-job gain in May.

2025

  • Total job creation in 2025 was about 584,000 jobs, according to one widely reported year-end estimate.
  • Another revised estimate put 2025 job creation much lower, at 181,000 jobs, showing how soft the labor market was by year end.
  • Employers also announced 1.2 million job cuts in 2025, the highest since 2020, which helps explain the weak hiring backdrop.

2026

  • In the first four months of 2026, Canada had a net loss of 112,000 jobs , then added 88,000 jobs in May, cutting most of that deficit.
  • For the U.S. in early 2026, the labor market was choppy, including a 92,000-job decline in February before a stronger March rebound.
  • A separate U.S. labor report showed 5.1 million hires in April 2026, with openings rising to 7.6 million , suggesting hiring was improving even if uneven.

What it means

The broad pattern is slower hiring and more volatility than in stronger labor years, with 2025 looking especially weak and 2026 showing some stabilization but not a clean recovery. If you want the numbers for a specific country, state, or industry, the totals can look very different because different reports measure job losses and hiring in different ways.