tal nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the
unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread in the private
sector, with large employment gains in professional and business
services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government
employment changed little over the month.
After accounting for the annual adjustments to the population
controls, the employment-population ratio (58.5 percent) rose in
January, while the civilian labor force participation rate held at
63.7 percent
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 8.2
million, changed little in January.
In January, 2.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor
force, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not
seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force,
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.
(See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 1.1 million discouraged
workers in January, little different from a year earlier. (The data
are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not
currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available
for them. The remaining 1.7 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-16.)
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January. Private-
sector employment grew by 257,000, with the largest employment gains
in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and
manufacturing. Government employment was little changed over the
month. (See table B-1.)
The total
nonfarm employment level for March 2011 was revised upward by 165,000
(162,000 on a not seasonally adjusted basis). The previously published
level for December 2011 was revised upward by 266,000 (231,000 on a
not seasonally adjusted basis).
An article that discusses the benchmark and post-benchmark revisions,
the change to NAICS 2012, and the other technical issues, as well as
all revised historical Current Employment Statistics (CES) data, can
be accessed through the CES homepage at www.bls.gov/ces/. Information
on the revisions released today also may be obtained by calling (202
The adjustment increased the estimated size of the civilian
noninstitutional population in December by 1,510,000, the civilian
labor force by 258,000, employment by 216,000, unemployment by 42,000,
and persons not in the labor force by 1,252,000. Although the total
unemployment rate was unaffected, the labor force participation rate
and the employment-population ratio were each reduced by 0.3
percentage point. This was because the population increase was
primarily among persons 55 and older and, to a lesser degree, persons
16 to 24 years of age. Both these age groups have lower levels of
labor force participation than the general population.
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