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Useful Information
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The Employment Situation: January 2007
[U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics]
Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 111,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job growth continued in several service-providing industries over the month, and construction employment also rose. The number of manufacturing jobs continued to decline.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons (7.0 million) and the unemployment rate (4.6 percent) were about unchanged in January. Over the month, the unemployment rate for Hispanics (5.7 percent) increased, while the rates for the other major worker groups—adult men (4.1 percent), adult women (4.0 percent), teenagers (15.0 percent), whites (4.1 percent), and blacks (8.0 percent)—were little changed. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
In January, both total employment (146.0 million) and the employment-population ratio (63.3 percent) were essentially unchanged. The civilian labor force (153.0 million) and the labor force participation rate (66.3 percent) were also about the same as in December. The participation rate in January was 0.3 percentage point higher than a year earlier.
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 1.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in January—essentially unchanged from a year ago. 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 attached, there were 442,000 discouraged workers in January, about the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 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.
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
In January, total payroll employment increased by 111,000, to 137.3 million, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed gains of 196,000 in November and 206,000 in December (as revised). In 2006, payroll employment rose by an average of 187,000 per month. In January, employment continued to increase in some service-providing industries. In addition, construction employment was up, while manufacturing employment continued to trend down.
In the service-providing sector, health care employment was up by 18,000 in January, following a gain of 43,000 in December. In 2006, health care employment increased by an average of 28,000 a month. In January, employment continued to trend up in hospitals, ambulatory health care, and nursing and residential care facilities.
Professional and business services employment continued to trend up in January (+25,000), following large gains that averaged 69,000 in the prior 2 months. Within this industry, employment in architectural and engineering services rose by 9,000 over the month.
Food services employment was up by 21,000 in January. Over the past 12 months, the industry added 347,000 jobs. Employment continued to expand over the month in transportation and warehousing; the industry has gained 116,000 jobs over the year.
Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment was essentially unchanged over the month in both wholesale and retail trade. Employment in financial activities was about unchanged; within the industry, insurance carriers lost 6,000 jobs. In information, employment was little changed following a large increase in December.
In the goods-producing sector, construction employment was up by 22,000 in January. Employment gains in nonresidential building (9,000) and in nonresidential specialty trade contracting (19,000) more than offset small declines in residential construction. Since its peak in February 2006, residential specialty trade contracting has lost 104,000 jobs while its nonresidential counterpart has added 126,000 jobs.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend down over the month. Job losses continued in motor vehicles and parts (-23,000), in furniture and related products (-4,000), and in textile mills (-4,000). Computer and peripheral equipment lost 6,000 jobs over the month. An increase in plastics and rubber employment reflected the return of workers from a strike. Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, mining employment was essentially unchanged.
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours in January. Weekly hours for factory workers declined by 0.2 hour to 40.8 hours, while factory overtime hours decreased by 0.1 hour to 4.1 hours. Since peaking in July, the factory workweek fell by 0.7 hour.
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers fell by 0.1 percent in January to 106.7 (2002=100). The manufacturing index fell by 0.8 percent to 94.4.
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 3 cents, or 0.2 percent, in January to $17.09. This increase followed a gain of 7 cents in December. Average weekly earnings fell by 0.1 percent in January to $577.64. Over the year, both hourly earnings and weekly earnings rose by 4.0 percent.
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 insurance tax records for March 2006. As a result of the benchmark process, all not seasonally adjusted data series were subject to revision from April 2005 forward, the time period since the last benchmark was established. In addition, with this release, the seasonally adjusted establishment survey data from January 2002 forward were subject to revision due to the introduction of updated seasonal adjustment factors.
The revised data for April 2006 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 2006 revisions also reflect the routine incorporation of additional sample receipts into the November final and December second preliminary estimates. The total nonfarm employment level for March 2006 was revised upward by 752,000 (754,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis). The previously published level for December 2006 was revised upward by 981,000 (933,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis).
The February 2007 issue of Employment and Earnings will contain an article that discusses the benchmark and post-benchmark revisions. This issue also will provide revised estimates for all regularly published tables containing national establishment survey data on employment, hours, and earnings. LABSTAT, the BLS public database on the Internet, contains all revised historical Current Employment Statistics (CES) data. The data, as well as the Employment and Earnings article and accompanying tables, can be accessed through the CES Web site. Information on the revisions released today also may be obtained by calling (202) 691-6555.
Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household Survey
Effective with data for January 2007, updated population controls have been used in the household survey. Population controls for the household survey are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau updates the controls to reflect new information and assumptions about the growth of the population. The change in population reflected in the new controls results from adjustments to the estimates of net international migration and updated vital statistics information.
Official population and labor force estimates for December 2006 and earlier months will not be revised. To assess the impact of the updated population controls on trend growth, however, December 2006 estimates for selected data series (not seasonally adjusted) were recalculated using the new controls. The differences from estimates based on the old controls are shown in table C. The adjustments increased the estimated size of the civilian non-institutional population by 321,000, of the civilian labor force by 163,000, and of employment by 153,000; the new population controls had a negligible impact on unemployment rates and other percentage estimates. Table D shows the effect of the introduction of new population controls on the over-the-month changes between December 2006 and January 2007.
For more detailed information on the population adjustments and their effect on national labor force estimates, download: www.bls.gov
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