Guam’s December 2025 labor-force snapshot recorded 72,350 employed residents and 2,280 unemployed residents. The unemployment rate was 3.1%, while the labor force participation rate was 60.6%, according to the BLS Guam unemployment report for December 2025. The island’s employment picture also includes September 2025 payroll data and May 2024 occupational estimates, which measure different parts of the labor market.
Contents
- Labor force and unemployment
- Recent unemployment movement
- Who was working
- Payroll employment by sector
- Private industries
- Hours and earnings
- Occupations and wages
Labor force and unemployment
The December 2025 BLS Guam unemployment report counted 123,060 civilians age 16 and over. Of that population, 74,590 people were in the civilian labor force. The report counted 72,350 employed people and 2,280 unemployed people, while 48,470 people were not in the labor force.
The participation rate was 60.6%, meaning this was the share reported as participating in the civilian labor force. Guam’s unemployment rate was 3.1% for December 2025. These measures describe resident labor-force status, rather than the number of payroll positions reported by employers.
The same report recorded 320 Guam residents who wanted a job but were not looking for work. It recorded zero residents who believed no job was available, zero who could not find work, and zero who cited family responsibility for not looking for work. These categories are narrower measures within the labor-force report and should not be added to the unemployment total.
The December 2025 report also contains a small table discrepancy worth keeping visible. Table 2 lists the not-in-the-labor-force population as 48,570 for December 2025, while the December snapshot elsewhere lists 48,470. September 2025 is listed as 48,570 in Table 2. The two December figures should therefore be treated as the values reported in their respective table contexts, not combined or reconciled with unsupported arithmetic.
Recent unemployment movement
The BLS Guam unemployment report for December 2025 gives a quarterly sequence of unemployment rates. Guam’s rate was 3.9% in December 2024, 3.4% in March 2025, 3.2% in June 2025, and 3.5% in September 2025 before reaching 3.1% in December 2025. September 2024 was reported at 3.4%.
| Measurement period | Unemployment rate | Civilian labor force | Total employed | Total unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 3.9% | 69,070 | 66,430 | 2,650 |
| March 2025 | 3.4% | 71,130 | 68,710 | 2,420 |
| June 2025 | 3.2% | 70,670 | 68,400 | 2,270 |
| September 2025 | 3.5% | 74,490 | 71,850 | 2,640 |
| December 2025 | 3.1% | 74,590 | 72,350 | 2,280 |
This sequence shows the reported rate at each measurement date, with the labor force, employed, and unemployed counts alongside it. The December 2025 labor force was reported at 74,590, and September 2025 at 74,490. The report’s December 2025 not-in-the-labor-force figure is 48,470 outside the Table 2 value noted above.
Who was working
December 2025 employment varied across the population groups identified in the BLS report. Adult men accounted for 36,650 employed people, while adult women accounted for 33,830. Teenagers accounted for 1,870 employed people, and household heads accounted for 28,780.
The group unemployment rates were 2.5% for adult men and 2.0% for adult women. The teenage unemployment rate was 23.4%, and the rate for household heads was 2.8%. These rates apply to the specific population categories used by the report and are not interchangeable with the overall Guam rate.
Employment status also differed by work schedule. The report counted 63,910 full-time workers and 8,440 part-time workers in December 2025. The full-time worker unemployment rate was 2.6%, compared with 6.7% for part-time workers.
Citizenship and veteran categories provide another view of the December 2025 workforce. U.S. citizens accounted for 65,090 employed people, while immigrant aliens accounted for 7,260. Veterans accounted for 5,380 employed people. The unemployment rate was 3.1% for U.S. citizens and 1.9% for immigrant aliens.
Payroll employment by sector
Payroll employment is reported separately from the resident labor-force measures. In the BLS Guam current employment report for September 2025, total payroll employment was 67,690. Private-sector payroll employment was 52,070, federal government payroll employment was 3,870, and Government of Guam payroll employment was 11,750.
Within the Government of Guam count, the executive branch employed 6,660 people. All other agencies, including autonomous entities, employed 5,090 people. These are payroll counts for September 2025 and should not be substituted for the 72,350 residents classified as employed in the December 2025 unemployment report.
The September 2025 current employment report recorded a preliminary increase of 250 payroll jobs over the latest quarter. It also recorded a preliminary decline of 890 jobs over the latest year. Construction employment increased by 360 jobs over the latest quarter. Hotel employment was relatively unchanged compared with both the prior quarter and the prior year.
The quarter and year comparisons use the periods defined in the September 2025 current employment report. They are not forecasts, and the report labels the payroll change figures as preliminary.
Private industries
The September 2025 private-sector payroll figures show employment spread across construction, retail, services, lodging, and other industries. Construction employed 12,470 people, retail trade employed 12,560, and services employed 16,670.
Services included 6,080 workers in hotels and other lodging places and 10,590 workers in all other services. Transportation and public utilities employed 3,720 people. Wholesale trade employed 2,380, while finance, insurance, and real estate employed 2,440.
Manufacturing employed 1,560 people in September 2025, and agriculture employed 270. The following figures retain the industry groupings used in the BLS Guam current employment report:
- Agriculture: 270 private-sector employees.
- Construction: 12,470.
- Manufacturing: 1,560.
- Transportation and public utilities: 3,720.
- Wholesale trade: 2,380.
- Retail trade: 12,560.
- Finance, insurance, and real estate: 2,440.
- Services: 16,670, including hotels and other lodging places and all other services.
The industry counts are September 2025 payroll employment estimates. They do not describe every person who worked in an industry during December 2025, and they should not be added to the resident employment count.
Hours and earnings
The September 2025 BLS Guam current employment report recorded changes in private nonsupervisory work measures across all industries. Average hourly earnings rose year over year from $18.38 to $18.69. Average weekly hours paid rose from 37.8 to 38.2, and average weekly earnings rose from $695.56 to $713.10.
The same September 2025 report listed private-sector nonsupervisory weekly earnings at $713.10. GovGuam all-branches weekly earnings were $1,336.53. These are different payroll measures covering different employment groups, so the figures should be read as separate reported averages.
Construction showed its own movement. Average weekly hours paid rose from 40.6 to 41.7. Average weekly earnings rose from $816.48 to $853.88, and hourly earnings rose from $20.12 to $20.48. The report describes these construction comparisons in its September 2025 current employment release.
The earnings figures are averages, not individual wage guarantees. They also come from the payroll-employment report and therefore use a different population and measurement framework from the resident unemployment-rate report.
Occupations and wages
The BLS Guam Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release for May 2024 estimated private-sector employment of 62,120 across all occupations. Across all occupations, the mean hourly wage was $21.39 and the mean annual wage was $44,480.
Legal occupations had the highest mean hourly wage among the major occupational groups listed in that Guam OEWS release, at $44.22. Management occupations had a mean hourly wage of $39.51, while healthcare practitioners and technical occupations had a mean hourly wage of $39.15. Food preparation and serving related occupations had a mean hourly wage of $11.14.
Management occupations employed 5,780 workers in May 2024. Within that group, general and operations managers accounted for 1,690 workers, construction managers for 400, and chief executives for 320.
Business and financial operations occupations employed 3,200 workers. The detailed occupations listed in the May 2024 release included 500 accountants and auditors, 330 human resources specialists, 270 project management specialists, and 210 management analysts.
These occupational figures are May 2024 estimates, while the labor-force figures above are primarily December 2025 and the payroll figures are September 2025. The dates matter: occupational employment and wage estimates can provide context for Guam’s work opportunities, but they are not a current December 2025 job count or a forecast of future hiring.