Payroll employment in the United States has continued to expand despite economic disruptions over the past decade.
The chart tracks annual average nonfarm payroll employment from 2015 through 2025. While employment experienced a sharp decline during the pandemic, the labor market recovered quickly and has since reached new record highs.
The most notable takeaway is that total payroll employment in 2025 exceeds every previous year shown in the data.
The Highest Employment Level on Record
Payroll employment reached approximately 158.6 million workers in 2025, the highest annual average in the series.
This surpasses the previous record of roughly 157.7 million workers in 2024 and continues a multi-year expansion that followed the pandemic recovery.
The steady gains indicate that employers have continued adding jobs even as hiring activity has slowed compared with the post-pandemic surge.
The Pandemic Created the Largest Setback
The most dramatic movement in the chart occurred between 2019 and 2020.
Payroll employment fell from approximately 151.1 million workers in 2019 to about 142.4 million workers in 2020.
That decline represented one of the largest labor market disruptions in modern U.S. history as businesses faced shutdowns and economic uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The drop interrupted a five-year period of steady employment growth.
The Recovery Was Strong and Sustained
After reaching its low point in 2020, payroll employment began recovering rapidly.
Employment increased to roughly 146.5 million workers in 2021 before climbing above 152.6 million workers in 2022.
By 2023, employment had exceeded pre-pandemic levels, reaching approximately 156.1 million workers. Growth continued through 2024 and 2025, setting consecutive records.
The speed of the rebound highlights the resilience of the labor market following the pandemic shock.
Why Employment Continued Growing
Several factors contributed to the continued rise in payroll employment.
Strong consumer spending, business expansion, population growth, and labor market recovery supported job creation across many industries.
Employers also continued filling positions that remained vacant during the immediate post-pandemic period.
Although hiring demand has moderated compared with the peak recovery years, overall employment levels have continued trending upward.
What This Means for Workers
The chart suggests that the labor market remains significantly larger than it was before the pandemic.
A growing payroll workforce generally reflects broader employment opportunities and stronger labor demand across the economy.
For workers, record employment levels can create more job options, increased career mobility, and greater bargaining power than periods of weak labor market growth.
At the same time, employment growth alone does not guarantee stronger wage growth or improved purchasing power. Those outcomes depend on broader economic conditions, including productivity and inflation.
Dataset
Data Sources
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). (2026). All Employees, Total Nonfarm Payrolls (PAYEMS). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Current Employment Statistics (CES). https://www.bls.gov/ces/
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics Survey. https://www.bls.gov/ces/data/
