NEW YORK (AP) — Cody Bellinger lofted a high fly to deep right field, where Juan Soto positioned himself in front of an unfriendly Yankee Stadium crowd and came up short.
Summed up the entire Subway Series, really.
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New York Mets pitcher Génesis Cabrera (92) reacts after New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger (35), Aaron Judge (99) and DJ LeMahieu (26) celebrate with teammates after a baseball game against the New York Mets Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets players watch as New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger (35) runs the bases after hitting a grand slam home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, right, watches New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger follows through on a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Soto was booed all weekend during a disappointing return to the Bronx, while Bellinger delivered several big hits that helped the New York Yankees get the best of their crosstown rivals.
Bellinger hit a game-breaking grand slam Sunday night that soared just beyond Soto's reach at the wall, and the Yankees beat the New York Mets 8-2 to take two of three at home in a matchup of first-place teams.
“I thought it was very fun," Bellinger said after equaling a career high with six RBIs in the finale of his first Subway Series. “I really enjoyed it.”
Soto probably didn't. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts to the noisy delight of Yankees fans in a sellout crowd of 48,028. That left him 1 for 10 with four walks during his first series back in the Bronx since leaving the Yankees for a record $765 million, 15-year contract with the Mets.
The slugger didn't speak with reporters in the clubhouse after the game.
“It was good to see him,” Yankees star Aaron Judge said, “but happy we were kind of — either walk him or not let him do any damage, especially in this series.”
Bellinger was acquired by the Yankees from the Chicago Cubs in a December trade to help replace Soto's powerful bat in the outfield. Following a slow start, the two-time All-Star and 2019 NL MVP is on a major tear at the plate.
“He's swinging at the pitches he needs to be swinging at, and his balance is where it needs to be,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I really think it’s as simple as that.”
Bellinger, whose father Clay won three American League pennants and two World Series titles as a light-hitting bench player for the Yankees from 1999-2001, is batting .340 with three homers, six RBIs and a .980 OPS since May 3 during a 13-game hitting streak that ties his career best.
“He's just been swinging the bat so well the past couple games, and I love it when I have that guy hitting behind me,” Judge said. “I just feel like his approach is a little better. He knows what he's looking for when he steps into the box, and when he gets what he's looking for he's not missing it.”
Bellinger went 3 for 3 with two walks Sunday on a perfect night at the plate, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. His two-run double in the first inning gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead, and his ninth career slam in the eighth off left-handed reliever Génesis Cabrera capped a six-run outburst that put the game away.
“He’s kind of the same every day. I think he’s got enough experience in this league now obviously, and he’s experienced it all," Boone said. "He’s experienced being the best player in the league and winning MVP. He’s experienced struggles. He’s experienced making a career kind of swing change and dealing with an injury and kind of evolving behind the scenes.
"You see that experience play out, like, whether he’s flying high or going through a rough patch, just kind of sticking with his process and his routine and kind of the same guy.”
Bellinger also went deep Saturday in a 3-2 loss to the Mets and finished 7 for 11 with two homers, three walks, four runs and seven RBIs in the series.
“He can hit a homer or he can choke up and hit the ball the other way for a base hit, and he has the ability to fight off some really tough pitches — especially with two strikes," Yankees ace Max Fried said. “You can turn on that two-strike approach and when you have a guy that has good bat-to-ball skills and also can be that deep-ball threat, it’s just really hard to make sure. They've got to throw a really good pitch.”
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New York Mets pitcher Génesis Cabrera (92) reacts after New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger (35), Aaron Judge (99) and DJ LeMahieu (26) celebrate with teammates after a baseball game against the New York Mets Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets players watch as New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger (35) runs the bases after hitting a grand slam home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, right, watches New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger follows through on a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sluggish December hiring concluded a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment have remained low.
Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.
The data suggests that businesses are reluctant to add workers even as economic growth has picked up. Many companies hired aggressively after the pandemic and no longer need to fill more jobs. Others have held back due to widespread uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policies, elevated inflation, and the spread of artificial intelligence, which could alter or even replace some jobs.
Still, economists were encouraged by the drop in the unemployment rate, which had risen in the previous four straight reports. It had also alarmed officials at the Federal Reserve, prompting three cuts to the central bank's key interest rate last year. The decline lowered the odds of another rate reduction in January, economists said.
“The labor market looks to have stabilized, but at a slower pace of employment growth,” Blerina Uruci, chief economist at T. Rowe Price, said. There is no urgency for the Fed to cut rates further, for now."
Some Federal Reserve officials are concerned that inflation remains above their target of 2% annual growth, and hasn't improved since 2024. They support keeping rates where they are to combat inflation. Others, however, are more worried that hiring has nearly ground to a halt and have supported lowering borrowing costs to spur spending and growth.
November's job gain was revised slightly lower, from 64,000 to 56,000, while October's now shows a much steeper drop, with a loss of 173,000 positions, down from previous estimates of a 105,000 decline. The government revises the jobs figures as it receives more survey responses from businesses.
The economy has now lost an average of 22,000 jobs a month in the past three months, the government said. A year ago, in December 2024, it had gained 209,000 a month. Most of those losses reflect the purge of government workers by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
Nearly all the jobs added in December were in the health care and restaurant and hotel industries. Health care added 38,500 jobs, while restaurants and hotels gained 47,000. Governments — mostly at the state and local level — added 13,000.
Manufacturing, construction and retail companies all shed jobs. Retailers cut 25,000 positions, a sign that holiday hiring has been weaker than previous years. Manufacturers have shed jobs every month since April, when Trump announced sweeping tariffs intended to boost manufacturing.
Wall Street and Washington are looking closely at Friday's report as it's the first clean reading on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
The hiring slowdown reflects more than just a reluctance by companies to add jobs. With an aging population and a sharp drop in immigration, the economy doesn't need to create as many jobs as it has in the past to keep the unemployment rate steady. As a result, a gain of 50,000 jobs is not as clear a sign of weakness as it would have been in previous years.
And layoffs are still low, a sign firms aren't rapidly cutting jobs, as typically happens in a recession. The “low-hire, low-fire” job market does mean current workers have some job security, though those without jobs can have a tougher time.
Ernesto Castro, 44, has applied for hundreds of jobs since leaving his last in May. Yet the Los Angeles resident has gotten just three initial interviews, and only one follow-up, after which he heard nothing.
With nearly a decade of experience providing customer support for software companies, Castro expected to find a new job pretty quickly as he did in 2024.
“I should be in a good position,” Castro said. “It’s been awful.”
He worries that more companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help clients learn to use new software. He hears ads from tech companies that urge companies to slash workers that provide the kind of services he has in his previous jobs. His contacts in the industry say that employees are increasingly reluctant to switch jobs amid all the uncertainty, which leaves fewer open jobs for others.
He is now looking into starting his own software company, and is also exploring project management roles.
December’s report caps a year of sluggish hiring, particularly after April's “liberation day” tariff announcement by Trump. The economy generated an average of 111,000 jobs a month in the first three months of 2025. But that pace dropped to just 11,000 in the three months ended in August, before rebounding slightly to 22,000 in November.
Last year, the economy gained just 584,000 jobs, sharply lower than that more than 2 million added in 2024. It's the smallest annual gain since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the job market in 2020.
Subdued hiring underscores a key conundrum surrounding the economy as it enters 2026: Growth has picked up to healthy levels, yet hiring has weakened noticeably and the unemployment rate has increased in the last four jobs reports.
Most economists expect hiring will accelerate this year as growth remains solid, and Trump's tax cut legislation is expected to produce large tax refunds this spring. Yet economists acknowledge there are other possibilities: Weak job gains could drag down future growth. Or the economy could keep expanding at a healthy clip, while automation and the spread of artificial intelligence reduces the need for more jobs.
Productivity, or output per hour worked, a measure of worker efficiency, has improved in the past three years and jumped nearly 5% in the July-September quarter. That means companies can produce more without adding jobs. Over time, it should also boost worker pay.
Even with such sluggish job gains, the economy has continued to expand, with growth reaching a 4.3% annual rate in last year's July-September quarter, the best in two years. Strong consumer spending helped drive the gain. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecasts that growth could slow to a still-solid 2.7% in the final three months of last year.
FILE - A hiring sign is displayed at a grocery store in Northbrook, Ill., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
