January 2000 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 in January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 387,000. There were sharp increases in construction and in other weather- sensitive industries, due, at least in part, to unseasonably mild weather during the survey reference period. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents in January and by 3.5 percent over the year.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons was unchanged in January at 5.7 million, and the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 4.0 percent. The jobless rate has been below 4.2 percent since October.

Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (3.3 percent), adult women (3.7 percent), teenagers (12.6 percent), whites (3.4 percent), blacks (8.2 percent), and Hispanics (5.6 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The number of persons in the civilian labor force grew by 925,000 to 140.9 million in January, after adjustment for the effect of revisions to population controls. Total employment rose by roughly the same amount to 135.2 million. (See table A; also see the note on page 5.) The labor force participation rate increased 0.4 percentage point to 67.5 percent--a record high. The employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and older with jobs--rose from 64.4 percent in December to 64.8 percent in January, also a record. (See table A-1.)

About 7.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in January. These multiple jobholders represented 5.7 percent of the total employed, compared with 6.0 percent in January 1999. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The number of persons who were marginally attached to the labor force in January totaled 1.2 million (not seasonally adjusted). These people wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They are not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for employment in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers was 234,000 in January, down from 339,000 a year earlier. These people, a subset of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 387,000 in January to 130.3 million, seasonally adjusted. In January, large job gains in construction and services were accompanied by a small increase in manufacturing employment. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, construction employment rose by 116,000 in January, after seasonal adjustment. This increase reflects, in part, unseasonably mild weather across the country during the survey reference period. The gains within construction were widespread, but the largest were in those industries most influenced by the weather--heavy construction and the concrete, masonry, and roofing trades.

Manufacturing added 13,000 jobs in January, following 2 months with almost no change. Factory employment had been on a clear downward trend from the spring of 1998 through mid-1999, but job losses moderated during the second half of 1999. In January, the largest employment increases within manu- facturing occurred in electrical equipment and in motor vehicles (8,000 each). Several construction-related manufacturing industries, such as plywood, concrete, and fabricated structural metals, also had employment increases. Partially offsetting the job gains were continued declines in industrial machinery, aircraft, textiles, and apparel.

Within the mining industry, employment in oil and gas extraction continued its recent slow improvement. Oil and gas extraction has added 9,000 jobs since August; it had lost 68,000 jobs from March 1998 to June 1999.

In the service-producing sector, employment in the services industry grew by 152,000 in January, above the average monthly gain for 1999 (121,000). In January, business services added 63,000 jobs. Within business services, computer and data processing services employment increased by 22,000, following 4 consecutive months of below-average gains. Agricultural services, including landscaping, posted a large job gain, perhaps reflecting the relatively mild weather during the survey reference period. Following a decline in December, employment in amusement and recreation services grew by 29,000. Health services and social services both experienced above-average gains in January, adding 23,000 and 21,000 jobs, respectively. Employment in hotels declined sharply over the month.

Retail trade added 43,000 jobs in January. Job gains occurred in miscellaneous retail establishments (20,000), apparel and accessory stores (16,000), and automotive dealers and service stations (13,000), but there was a sizable employment decline in department stores (-33,000). Employment in wholesale trade rose by 19,000 over the month.

Transportation and public utilities added 16,000 jobs in January, mainly in transportation. Job growth was above average in air transportation and in local and interurban transit.

The federal government added 20,000 jobs over the month; temporary workers hired for the decennial census accounted for 11,000 jobs.

Employment in finance, insurance, and real estate declined in January. Among the component industries, only securities brokerages and real estate added jobs over the month. Within finance, the largest decline was in mortgage brokerages (-7,000), where 23,000 jobs have been lost since May.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour in January to 34.6 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also was up by 0.1 hour to 41.7 hours. Manufacturing overtime edged down 0.1 hour to 4.6 hours. (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 150.2 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index was up by 0.5 percent to 106.2. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents in January to $13.50, seasonally adjusted. Following gains of 13 cents in each of the first 2 quarters of 1999, average hourly earnings growth was 11 cents in the third quarter, and 9 cents in the fourth quarter (as revised). Over the month, average weekly earnings rose by 0.7 percent to $467.10, seasonally adjusted. Over the year, both average hourly earnings and average weekly earnings rose by 3.5 percent. (See table B-3.)

Revisions to Population Estimates for the Household Survey

Effective with the release of data for January 2000, revised population controls, primarily reflecting updated information on immigration, have been introduced into the household survey. The revised controls resulted in a decrease in the estimated size of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over.

Official population and labor force estimates for December 1999 and earlier months will not be revised. To assess the impact of the revised population controls on trend growth, however, December estimates for selected data series were recalculated using the new controls, and the differences from estimates based on the old controls are shown below. The population revisions decreased the estimated size of the civilian labor force by 123,000 and of employment by 117,000; the revisions had a negligible impact on unemployment rates and other percentage estimates. An article describing the population revisions and their effect on national labor force estimates will appear in the February 2000 issue of Employment and Earnings.