Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 09-0117
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
Establishment data:(202) 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release
http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EST),
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, February 6, 2009.
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: JANUARY 2009
Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply in January (-598,000) and the unem-
ployment rate rose from 7.2 to 7.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment has declined
by 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007; about one-
half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months. In January, job losses
were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
Both the number of unemployed persons (11.6 million) and the unemployment
rate (7.6 percent) rose in January. Over the past 12 months, the number of un-
employed persons has increased by 4.1 million and the unemployment rate has
risen by 2.7 percentage points. (See table A-1.)
The unemployment rate continued to trend upward in January for adult men
(7.6 percent), adult women (6.2 percent), whites (6.9 percent), blacks (12.6
percent), and Hispanics (9.7 percent). The jobless rate for teenagers was un-
changed at 20.8 percent. The unemployment rate for Asians was 6.2 percent in
January, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed
temporary jobs increased to 7.0 million in January. This measure has grown
by 3.2 million during the last 12 months. (See table A-8.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
was little changed at 2.6 million in January. Over the past 12 months, the
number of long-term unemployed was up by 1.3 million. The number of persons
unemployed less than 5 weeks rose to 3.7 million in January. (See table A-9.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
The civilian labor force participation rate, at 65.5 percent in January, has
edged down in recent months. The employment-population ratio declined by 0.5
percentage point to 60.5 percent over the month, and by 2.4 percentage points
over the year. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons (sometimes
referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged in
January at 7.8 million; however, this measure was up by 3.1 million over the
past 12 months. Included in this category are persons who would like to work
full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or
because they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 2.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached
to the labor force in January, about 400,000 more than 12 months earlier. These
individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime
in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not
searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally at-
tached, there were 734,000 discouraged workers in January, up by about 270,000
from a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for
work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.4 million
persons marginally attached to the labor force in January had not searched for
work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance
or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)
_____________________________________________________________________
| |
| Establishment and Household Data Changes |
| |
| The establishment survey data in this release have been revised as|
|a result of the annual benchmarking process and the updating of sea- |
|sonal adjustment factors. See the note beginning on page 4 for more |
|information on the revisions. |
| In addition, household survey data for January 2009 reflect up- |
|dated population estimates. See the note on page 5 for more inform- |
|ation. Also, January 2009 industry data shown in table A-11 of this |
|release have been converted to the 2007 Census Industry Classifica- |
|tion System. Historical data have not been revised. |
| |
_____________________________________________________________________
- 2 -
Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
_______________________________________________________________________________
| | |
| Quarterly | |
| averages | Monthly data | Dec.-
Category |_________________|__________________________| Jan.
| | | | | | change
| III | IV | Nov. | Dec. | Jan. |
| 2008 | 2008 | 2008 | 2008 | 2009 |
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Civilian labor force ....| 154,650| 154,648| 154,620| 154,447| 153,716| (1)
Employment ............| 145,299| 144,046| 144,144| 143,338| 142,099| (1)
Unemployment ..........| 9,350| 10,602| 10,476| 11,108| 11,616| (1)
Not in labor force ......| 79,460| 80,177| 80,208| 80,588| 81,023| (1)
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Unemployment rates
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
All workers .............| 6.0| 6.9| 6.8| 7.2| 7.6| 0.4
Adult men .............| 5.8| 6.8| 6.7| 7.2| 7.6| .4
Adult women ...........| 5.0| 5.6| 5.6| 5.9| 6.2| .3
Teenagers .............| 19.7| 20.7| 20.4| 20.8| 20.8| .0
White .................| 5.4| 6.3| 6.2| 6.6| 6.9| .3
Black or African | | | | | |
American ............| 10.7| 11.5| 11.3| 11.9| 12.6| .7
Hispanic or Latino | | | | | |
ethnicity ...........| 7.8| 8.9| 8.6| 9.2| 9.7| .5
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
ESTABLISHMENT DATA(2) | Employment
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Nonfarm employment.......| 137,004|p135,762| 135,755|p135,178|p134,580| p-598
Goods-producing (3)....| 21,343| p20,814| 20,814| p20,564| p20,245| p-319
Construction ........| 7,170| p6,953| 6,939| p6,853| p6,742| p-111
Manufacturing .......| 13,388| p13,068| 13,082| p12,920| p12,713| p-207
Service-providing (3)..| 115,661|p114,948| 114,941|p114,614|p114,335| p-279
Retail trade (4)...| 15,331| p15,129| 15,126| p15,043| p14,998| p-45
Professional and | | | | | |
business services .| 17,730| p17,494| 17,488| p17,382| p17,261| p-121
Education and health | | | | | |
services ..........| 18,932| p19,038| 19,044| p19,089| p19,143| p54
Leisure and | | | | | |
hospitality .......| 13,452| p13,351| 13,344| p13,313| p13,285| p-28
Government ..........| 22,543| p22,538| 22,543| p22,533| p22,539| p6
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Hours of work (5)
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Total private ...........| 33.6| p33.4| 33.4| p33.3| p33.3| p0.0
Manufacturing .........| 40.8| p40.2| 40.2| p39.9| p39.8| p-.1
Overtime ............| 3.6| p3.2| 3.2| p3.0| p2.9| p-.1
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100)(5)
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Total private ...........| 106.1| p104.1| 104.1| p103.3| p102.6| p-0.7
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Earnings (5)
|_____________________________________________________
Average hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private .........| $18.16| p$18.34| $18.34| p$18.41| p$18.46| p$0.05
Average weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private .........| 610.90| p612.66| 612.56| p613.05| p614.72| p1.67
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________
1 Changes in household data levels are not shown due to the introduction of
updated population controls. See the note on page 5 for more information.
2 Establishment data have been revised to reflect March 2008 benchmark levels
and updated seasonal adjustment factors. See the note on page 4 for more
information.
3 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
4 Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated using
unrounded data.
5 Data relate to private production and nonsupervisory workers.
p = preliminary.
- 3 -
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply (-598,000) in January.
Since the recession began in December 2007, 3.6 million jobs have been
lost, with about half of the decrease occurring in the last 3 months. In
January, employment declined in nearly all major industries, while health
care and private education added jobs. (See table B-1.)
Manufacturing employment fell by 207,000 in January, the largest 1-month
decline since October 1982. In January, durable goods manufacturing lost
157,000 jobs, with notable decreases in fabricated metal products (-37,000),
motor vehicles and parts (-31,000), and machinery (-22,000). Employment in
nondurable goods manufacturing declined by 50,000 over the month.
Construction lost 111,000 jobs in January. Employment in the industry
has fallen by about 1.0 million since peaking in January 2007. Employment
fell across most component industries over the month.
The temporary help industry lost 76,000 jobs in January. Since its recent
peak in December 2006, temporary help employment has declined by 695,000.
Professional and technical services lost 29,000 jobs in January.
Retail trade employment fell by 45,000 in January and by 592,000 since a
peak in November 2007. In January, employment declined in automobile dealer-
ships (-14,000), building material and garden supply stores (-10,000), depart-
ment stores (-9,000), and furniture and home furnishing stores (-7,000). Over
the month, wholesale trade employment fell by 31,000.
Transportation and warehousing lost 44,000 jobs in January and 202,000 since
the start of the recession. Most of the decline occurred over the last 5 months.
In January, employment fell in truck transportation (-25,000), support activities
for transportation (-9,000), and couriers and messengers (-4,000).
Employment in financial activities declined by 42,000 over the month and by
388,000 since a peak in December 2006. In January, job losses occurred in se-
curities, commodity contracts, and investments (-15,000) and in credit intermedi-
ation (-10,000).
Health care employment continued to trend up in January with a gain of 19,000.
Employment gains in the industry averaged 30,000 a month in 2008. Employment in
private education rose by 33,000 over the month.
The change in total nonfarm employment for November was revised from -584,000
to -597,000, and the change for December was revised from -524,000 to -577,000.
Monthly revisions result from additional sample reports and the monthly recalcula-
tion of seasonal factors. This month, the annual benchmarking process also con-
tributed to these revisions.
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
In January, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on
private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.3 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the
manufacturing workweek and factory overtime decreased by 0.1 hour over the month,
to 39.8 and 2.9 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on
nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.7 percent in January. The manufacturing index declined
by 2.1 percent over the month. (See table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
In January, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted.
This followed gains of 7 cents in December and 6 cents in November. Over the past
12 months, average hourly earnings increased by 3.9 percent, and average weekly
earnings rose by 2.7 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________
The Employment Situation for February 2009 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, March 6, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).
- 4 -
____________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Revisions to Establishment Survey Data |
| |
| In accordance with annual practice, the establishment survey data have |
|been revised to reflect comprehensive universe counts of payroll jobs, or |
|benchmarks. These counts are derived principally from unemployment insur- |
|ance tax records compiled by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages |
|program for March 2008. As a result of the benchmark process, all not sea- |
|sonally adjusted data series were subject to revision from April 2007 for- |
|ward, the time period since the last benchmark was established. In addi- |
|tion, with this release, the seasonally adjusted establishment survey data |
|from January 2004 forward were subject to revision due to the introduction |
|of updated seasonal adjustment factors. |
| |
| Table B presents revised total nonfarm employment data on a seasonally |
|adjusted basis for January through December 2008. The revised data for |
|April 2008 forward incorporate the effect of applying the rate of change |
|measured by the sample to the new benchmark level, as well as updated net |
|business birth/death model adjustments and new seasonal adjustment factors. |
|The November and December 2008 revisions also reflect the routine incor- |
|poration of additional sample receipts into the November final and December |
|second preliminary estimates. The total nonfarm employment level or March |
|2008 was revised downward by 89,000 (17,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis).|
|The previously published level for December 2008 was revised downward by |
|172,000 (311,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis). |
| |
| An article that discusses the benchmark and post-benchmark revisions, as |
|well as all revised historical Current Employment Statistics (CES) data, can|
|be accessed through the CES homepage at http://www.bls.gov/ces/. Informa- |
|tion on the revisions released today also may be obtained by calling |
|(202) 691-6555. |
| |
| |
| |
|Table B. Revisions in total nonfarm employment, January-December 2008, |
|seasonally adjusted |
| |
|(In thousands) |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
| | | |
| | Levels | Over-the-month changes |
| Year |-----------------------|-------------------------------------|
| and | As | | As | | |
| month | previously | As | previously | As | Difference |
| | published | revised | published | revised | |
|______________|____________|__________|____________|__________|_____________|
| | | | | | |
| 2008 | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|January ......| 138,002 | 138,080 | -76 | -72 | 4 |
|February .....| 137,919 | 137,936 | -83 | -144 | -61 |
|March ........| 137,831 | 137,814 | -88 | -122 | -34 |
|April ........| 137,764 | 137,654 | -67 | -160 | -93 |
|May ..........| 137,717 | 137,517 | -47 | -137 | -90 |
|June .........| 137,617 | 137,356 | -100 | -161 | -61 |
|July .........| 137,550 | 137,228 | -67 | -128 | -61 |
|August .......| 137,423 | 137,053 | -127 | -175 | -48 |
|September ....| 137,020 | 136,732 | -403 | -321 | 82 |
|October ......| 136,597 | 136,352 | -423 | -380 | 43 |
|November .....| 136,013 | 135,755 | -584 | -597 | -13 |
|December (p)..| 135,489 | 135,178 | -524 | -577 | -53 |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
| |
| p = preliminary. |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
- 5 -
____________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household Survey |
| |
| Effective with data for January 2009, updated population estimates have |
|been used in the household survey. Population estimates for the household |
|survey are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census |
|Bureau updates the estimates to reflect new information and assumptions |
|about the growth of the population during the decade. The change in popu- |
|lation reflected in the new estimates results primarily from adjustments |
|for net international migration, updated vital statistics information, and |
|some methodological changes in the estimation process. |
| |
| |
| In accordance with our usual practice, BLS will not revise the official |
|household survey estimates for December 2008 and earlier months. To show |
|the impact of the population adjustment, however, differences in selected |
|December 2008 labor force series based on the old and new population esti- |
|mates are shown in table C. The adjustment decreased the estimated size |
|of the civilian noninstitutional population in December by 483,000, the |
|civilian labor force by 449,000, and employment by 407,000; the new popula- |
|tion estimates had a negligible impact on unemployment rates and other per- |
|centage estimates. Data users are cautioned that these annual population |
|adjustments affect the comparability of household data series over time. |
|Estimates of large levels such as total labor force and employment are im- |
|pacted most. Table D shows the effect of the introduction of new popula- |
|tion estimates on the changes in selected labor force measures between |
|December 2008 and January 2009. More detailed information on the popula- |
|tion adjustments and their effect on national labor force estimates are |
|available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps09adj.pdf. |
| |
| |
|Table C. Effect of the updated population controls on December 2008 esti- |
|mates by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, not seasonally ad- |
|justed |
| |
|(Numbers in thousands) |
| |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Black | | |
| | | | | | or | | Hispanic |
| Category |Total| Men | Women| White| African| Asian | or Latino |
| | | | | |American| | ethnicity |
| | | | | | | | |
|_____________________|_____|_____|______|______|________|_______|___________|
| | | | | | | | |
|Civilian noninstitu- | | | | | | | |
| tional population...|-483 |-295 | -188 | -242 | -43 | -170 | -319 |
| Civilian labor | | | | | | | |
| force............|-449 |-289 | -160 | -267 | -38 | -121 | -264 |
| Employed..........|-407 |-260 | -146 | -239 | -33 | -116 | -238 |
| Unemployed........| -42 | -28 | -14 | -28 | -5 | -6 | -27 |
| Unemployment | | | | | | | |
| rate............| .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
|_____________________|_____|_____|______|______|________|_______|___________|
| |
| NOTE: Detail for men and women may not sum to totals because of round- |
|ing. Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American,|
|and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all |
|races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be |
|of any race. |
| |
| |
| |
|Table D. December 2008-January 2009 changes in selected labor force |
|measures, with adjustments for population control effects |
| |
|(Numbers in thousands) |
| |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
| | | | |
| | Dec.-Jan. | 2009 | Dec.-Jan. |
| | change, | population | change, |
| | as | control | after re- |
| Category | published | effect | moving the |
| | | | population |
| | | | control |
| | | | effect (1) |
|_____________________________________|___________|____________|_____________|
| | | | |
| Total | | | |
| | | | |
|Civilian noninstitutional population.| -296 | -483 | 187 |
| Civilian labor force...............| -731 | -449 | -282 |
| Participation rate...............| -.2 | -.1 | -.1 |
| Employed..........................| -1,239 | -407 | -832 |
| Employment-population ratio......| -.5 | .0 | -.5 |
| Unemployed........................| 508 | -42 | 550 |
| Unemployment rate...............| .4 | .0 | .4 |
| | | | |
|_____________________________________|___________|____________|_____________|
| |
| 1 This Dec.-Jan. change is calculated by subtracting the population con- |
|trol effect from the published over-the-month change. |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
