Charlotte metro ranked second nationally for net job gains in 2025, federal data show

Charlotte’s 2025 hiring pace stood out among large U.S. metros

The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metropolitan area added 37,600 nonfarm payroll jobs in December 2025 compared with December 2024, one of the largest over-the-year increases recorded among U.S. metro areas in the federal monthly metro employment release. By that measure, Charlotte posted the second-largest job gain listed in the release, narrowly behind the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area, which added 36,400 jobs over the same period.

In percentage terms, Charlotte also ranked among the fastest-growing large metro areas. Employment in the Charlotte region rose 2.7% over the year, the largest percentage increase among metropolitan areas with populations of 1 million or more included in the release. The same report showed Salt Lake City-Murray at 1.8% and Philadelphia at 1.2%.

What the “jobs added” figure represents

The federal metro jobs figures are based on an establishment survey that counts jobs on payrolls by where employers are located, rather than where workers live. As a result, the numbers reflect changes in payroll employment within the metro’s boundaries and can differ from household-based measures of employment and unemployment.

The release also notes that unemployment rates and payroll employment are produced by different statistical programs. Unemployment rates describe residents in the labor force, while payroll jobs describe positions at area establishments. That distinction can matter in metro areas where commuting across county or state lines is significant—an important factor for a region that spans North Carolina and South Carolina.

How unemployment shifted at the end of 2025

Nationally, the not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in December 2025 was 4.1%, up from 3.8% a year earlier. Across metropolitan areas, unemployment rates rose over the year in a majority of the 387 areas covered in the release, while a smaller share saw declines or no change.

Within the subset of 56 metropolitan areas with populations of at least 1 million, the report identified a wide range of December jobless rates, from low-2% levels in the lowest-rate large metro to above 8% in the highest-rate large metro. The release did not single out Charlotte’s unemployment rate as an extreme outlier among large metros in December, but it placed the region’s job creation performance among the strongest.

Upcoming data revisions could refine the 2025 picture

The federal release flagged methodological updates and revisions scheduled for spring 2026. For local unemployment statistics, January 2026 data (to be released in April) will incorporate updated inputs and population controls, with additional revisions to metro-area estimates expected in May 2026. For payroll employment, January 2026 data will also bring benchmark adjustments to 2025 levels, with revisions that can extend back multiple years for some series.

• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia: +37,600 jobs year over year (December 2025 vs. December 2024)
• Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington: +36,400 jobs year over year
• Salt Lake City-Murray: +15,300 jobs year over year

Payroll job gains and unemployment rates measure different things: jobs at local establishments versus labor-market conditions for residents.