January 1998 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Employment rose substantially in January, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment grew by 358,000, with large gains occurring in construction and manufacturing.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 6.4 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.7 percent, were essentially unchanged in January, after seasonal adjustment. Among the major worker groups, the jobless rate for adult women (4.4 percent) rose by 0.4 percentage point in January, while the rate for adult men (3.8 percent) declined to its lowest level in nearly 20 years. Unemployment rates for teenagers (14.1 percent), whites (4.0 percent), blacks (9.3 percent), and Hispanics (6.9 percent) showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Among the major educational attainment categories, the jobless rate for persons 25 years and over who had not completed high school (7.2 percent) continued its year-long decline. Rates for those with higher levels of educational attainment--including high school graduates with no college experience (3.9 percent), high school graduates with some college experience but no bachelor’s degree (3.2 percent), and college graduates (1.9 percent)--were essentially unchanged over the month. (See table A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, as measured by the household survey, at 131.1 million (seasonally adjusted), rose by 641,000 over the month, after adjusting for changes in the composite estimation procedure. The employment-population ratio rose to 64.2 percent, an all-time high. Employment-population ratios for workers 25 years and over at all levels of educational attainment--less than a high school diploma (39.3 percent), high school graduates with no college experience (63.0 percent), high school graduates with some college experience but no bachelor’s degree (72.9 percent), and college graduates (78.7 percent)--showed little or no movement over the month. The ratio is low for persons without a high school diploma in part because a very high proportion are age 65 and over. (See tables A-1 and A-3.)

About 7.7 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in January. These multiple jobholders comprised 6.0 percent of all employed persons. (See table A-10.)

The civilian labor force, at 137.5 million (seasonally adjusted), increased by 624,000 in January, after adjusting for changes in the composite estimation procedure, and the labor force participation rate rose to a record 67.3 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force

About 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in January. These were people who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

The number of discouraged workers--a subset of the marginally attached who were not currently looking for jobs specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them--was 374,000 in January, little changed from a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 358,000 in January to 124.2 million, after seasonal adjustment. Since September, payroll employment has risen by 1.4 million. Over the month, job gains continued in most major industry groups, with particularly strong growth in construction and manufacturing. (See table B-1.)

Construction employment rose by 92,000 in January, after seasonal adjustment. Since October, the industry has added 184,000 jobs. Several factors contributed to January’s gain: The weather was warmer than usual over much of the country, there was considerable cleanup and repair activity following ice storms in the Northeast, and the housing market remained strong due to low mortgage rates and the healthy economy.

Manufacturing added 43,000 jobs in January, the fourth month in a row with a gain of about this magnitude. Since September, factory employment has risen by 162,000. Several durable goods industries that have made steady job gains for more than a year continued to grow in January. These include fabricated metals (8,000), industrial machinery (7,000), electronic components (4,000), and aircraft (2,000). Among nondurable goods industries, employment in rubber and miscellaneous plastics increased by 6,000, while apparel and textiles continued to decline.

Within the service-producing sector, employment in the services industry rose by 89,000 in January, after 2 months of larger gains. Employment in help supply services decreased by 16,000, following strong growth in November and December. Since October, net job growth in this industry has totaled 71,000. In January, health services added 14,000 jobs; large gains continued in hospitals, but nursing homes and home health care agencies showed declines. Computer services and engineering and management services continued their strong job growth.

Employment in transportation and public utilities rose by 49,000 in January, after seasonal adjustment. Light holiday hiring in air transportation led to fewer post-holiday layoffs than normal, resulting in a large job gain in January, after seasonal adjustment. Employment in communications rose by 10,000 over the month, primarily in telephone communications, where growth has accelerated since September.

Strength in both the durable and nondurable goods components of wholesale trade led to a relatively large job gain of 30,000 in January. Retail trade employment increased by 24,000 in January, about half the average monthly gain for 1997. Following robust holiday hiring, there were large seasonal layoffs in miscellaneous retail establishments, such as toy stores, book stores, and catalog sales operations.

Elsewhere in the service-producing sector, employment continued to rise in finance (12,000), with the largest increase in security brokerages (5,000). Real estate added 10,000 jobs over the month. Local government employment rose by 18,000 in January, as both the education and noneducation components continued their long-term growth. Federal government employment continued to decline.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2 hour in January to 34.8 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.1 hour to 42.1 hours, while factory overtime was 4.9 hours for the third straight month. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.6 percent to 143.4 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index edged down by 0.1 percent to 109.8. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased 4 cents in January to $12.51, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.9 percent to $435.35. Since January 1997, average hourly earnings have risen by 3.8 percent and average weekly earnings by 5.0 percent. (See table B-3.)