December 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 modestly in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 105,000, as gains in government and other service-producing industries more than offset large declines in manufacturing and help supply services. Over the last 3 months of 2000, total payroll employment gains averaged 77,000, compared with an average monthly gain of 187,000 during the first 9 months of the year and 229,000 a month for all of 1999. Average hourly earnings increased by 5 cents in December.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 5.7 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.0 percent, were unchanged in December. The jobless rate has ranged from 3.9 to 4.1 percent since October 1999. The rates for the major worker groups--adult men (3.4 percent), adult women (3.4 percent), teenagers (13.1 percent), whites (3.5 percent), blacks (7.6 percent), and Hispanics (5.7 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)

Total employment increased by 358,000 in December to 135.8 million, seasonally adjusted. The employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and older with jobs--edged up to 64.5 percent. The civilian labor force grew by 353,000 to 141.5 million, while the labor force participation rate, 67.1 percent, was essentially unchanged. (See table A-1.)

The number of people who held more than one job in December was about 7.7 million (not seasonally adjusted). These multiple jobholders represented 5.7 percent of total employment, compared with 6.0 percent a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in December, about the same number as a year earlier. These people wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they had not actively searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers was 265,000 in December. Discouraged workers, 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)

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 105,000 to 132.0 million in December, seasonally adjusted. Private-sector employment grew by just 49,000, with overall growth held down by declines in manufacturing, construction, and help supply services. Job growth continued in many service industries, including health, social, computer, and engineering and management services. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing employment fell by 62,000 in December, bringing its loss for the year to 178,000. Employment in primary metals declined by 9,000 in December, partly reflecting 3,000 workers who were on strike and thus not on payrolls. Motor vehicles lost 8,000 jobs, as did rubber and miscellaneous plastics. Apparel and textiles continued their long-term declines, losing 9,000 and 5,000 jobs, respectively. Declines also occurred in several construction-related industries, including lumber, furniture, and stone, clay, and glass products.

Construction employment fell by 13,000 in December, affected for the second month in a row by adverse weather. Employment in mining fell by 3,000.

In the service-producing sector, employment in services rose by 81,000 over the month. The average monthly increase in services over the October- December period was 53,000, less than half the average posted in the first 9 months of the year. Help supply services lost 58,000 jobs in December, its third consecutive monthly decline. Elsewhere, robust growth continued in computer and data processing services, which added 16,000 jobs, as well as in health services, which added 23,000 jobs. Employment also increased in social services (21,000), engineering and management services (17,000), and private education (21,000).

Employment in transportation and public utilities grew by 23,000 in December. Within transportation, trucking and warehousing experienced its first increase since July, adding 11,000 jobs. Air transportation continued to grow, gaining 10,000 jobs in December, about the same number as in November.

Employment in finance, insurance, and real estate rose by 19,000 in December. Within finance, employment in depository institutions grew by 5,000, offsetting losses in the previous 2 months. Job growth in security and commodity brokerages slowed in November and December, although the industry has added 57,000 jobs over the year. Real estate added 7,000 jobs in December, bringing its total job gain for the year to 26,000.

Retail trade employment showed little change in December, following an increase in November. Over the year, retail employment increased by 302,000, compared with a gain of 427,000 in 1999. Employment in wholesale trade was essentially unchanged in December. The over-the-year gain was 89,000, the smallest since 1993.

Government employment rose by 56,000 in December, after seasonal adjustment. The large December gain reversed a decline of similar magnitude in November. Both state and local government showed employment gains in

December, after seasonal adjustment, reflecting fewer layoffs than usual. Over the year, government employment grew by 160,000, half the prior-year gain; the slowdown was most pronounced in state and local education.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.2 hour in December to 34.1 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek dropped sharply, falling by 0.8 hour to 40.4 hours. In December, manufacturing overtime declined by 0.3 hour to 4.0 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.7 percent to 150.5 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index fell by 2.4 percent to 101.8. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in December to $14.01, seasonally adjusted. Reflecting the decline in hours, average weekly earnings fell by 0.2 percent to $477.74. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 4.2 percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.0 percent. (See table B-3.)

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal adjustment factors for the labor force series derived from the Current Population Survey (also referred to as the household survey) to incorporate the experience of that year. This year, seasonally adjusted data for January 1996-December 2000 were subject to revision. (Seasonally adjusted establishment data will be revised in June, concurrent with the introduction of annual benchmark adjustments.)

The January 2001 issue of Employment and Earnings will contain the new seasonal adjustment factors for major series for the January-June 2001 period. The publication also will contain a description of the current seasonal adjustment methodology and revised data for the most recent 13 months or quarters for all regularly published tables containing seasonally adjusted household survey data. Historical data for the household series contained in the "A" tables of this release also can be accessed on the BLS Internet site at (http://stats.bls.gov/cpsatabs.htm). Revised historical seasonally adjusted monthly and quarterly data also are available on the Internet at (ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf).

1/ Not published.

Planned Changes in the Household Survey Data

Effective with the release of data for January 2001, minor revisions will be introduced into the population controls used for the household survey. The changes will result in a slight downward shift in the estimated total civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and over for January 2001. The changes will subtract approximately 15,000 from the estimated population trend growth between December 2000 and January 2001. The impact will vary for subpopulations such as men (+15,000), women (-29,000), white (0), black (-60,000), Hispanic (-45,000) and non-Hispanic (+30,000). These changes reflect the routine annual updating of intercensal population estimates by the Bureau of the Census and do not incorporate any information from the 2000 decennial census.

HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

1999 2000 Employment status, sex, and age Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

TOTAL

Men, 20 years and over

Women, 20 years and over

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation. NOTE: Beginning in January 2000, data reflect new composite estimation procedures and revised population controls used in the household survey. Data have been revised based on the experience through December 2000.