December 2004 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.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in December, and the unem- ployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job growth continued in sev- eral service-providing industries.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 8.0 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.4 percent, were unchanged in December. The jobless rate has been either 5.4 or 5.5 percent in each month since July, slightly below the rates that prevailed in the first half of 2004.

In December, the unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.9 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (17.6 percent), whites (4.6 percent), blacks (10.8 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.6 percent)-- showed little or no change over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.1 percent in December, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed--those unemployed 27 weeks and over--was about unchanged over the month. This group accounted for 20.2 percent of the total unemployed.

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, at 140.2 million in December, was little changed over the month but was 1.7 million higher than a year earlier. The proportion of the working-age population that was employed (the employment-population ratio) was 62.4 percent in December, about the same as a year earlier. Both the civilian labor force, at 148.2 million in December, and the labor force participation rate, at 66.0 percent, were about unchanged from the previous month. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who work part time for economic reasons, at 4.5 mil- lion, was about unchanged in December but was down by 308,000 over the year. This category includes persons who indicated that they would like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or be- cause they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)

Over the year, the number of persons who held more than one job increased by 574,000 to 7.8 million, not seasonally adjusted. These multiple jobholders represented 5.6 percent of total employment in December. (See table A-13.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

There were 1.5 million persons who were marginally attached to the labor force in December, essentially the same as a year earlier. (Data are not sea- sonally adjusted.) These individuals 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 did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 442,000 discouraged workers in December, 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 1.0 million marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school or family responsibili- ties. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 157,000 in December to 132.3 million, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed a gain of 137,000 in November (as revised). Over the year, payroll employment grew by 2.2 million. December's increase included gains in health care and social assistance, pro- fessional and business services, wholesale trade, and financial activities. (See table B-1.)

Health care and social assistance continued to add jobs over the month, with an increase of 36,000. Over the year, employment in this industry rose by 342,000. In December, employment increased in ambulatory health care ser- vices (17,000), hospitals (5,000), and social assistance (13,000).

Professional and business services added 41,000 jobs over the month, bring- ing the over-the-year gain to 546,000. In December, employment rose in com- puter systems design and related services (10,000) and in architectural and engineering services (7,000). Employment in the temporary help industry continued to trend upward; job growth totaled 206,000 in 2004.

Employment in wholesale trade increased by 17,000 in December and by 97,000 over the year. About 10,000 of the over-the-month gain was in its durable goods component.

Employment in financial activities rose over the month (14,000) and in- creased by 140,000 in 2004. Over the year, strength in the housing market continued to stimulate hiring in the industry. Credit intermediation added 9,000 jobs in December, bringing the total to 64,000 for all of 2004. Real estate employment was flat in December but was up by 42,000 over the year.

Retail trade employment edged down in December, after seasonal adjustment. Since reaching a low point in December 2003, however, retailers have added 169,000 jobs. Building material and garden supply stores and clothing and accessory stores contributed about 50,000 jobs each to the over-the-year gain.

In December, construction employment was little changed for the second month in a row. However, the industry has added 371,000 jobs since its re- cent low point in March 2003.

Manufacturing employment was about unchanged in December. The industry added 76,000 jobs in 2004; nearly all of the gain occurred early in the year.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour in December to 33.8 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the manufacturing workweek and factory overtime were unchanged at 40.5 hours and 4.5 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.4 percent in December to 101.3 (2002=100), following a decrease of 0.2 percent in November. The manufacturing index was unchanged over the month at 94.3. (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 2 cents in December to $15.86, seasonally ad- justed. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.4 percent over the month to $536.07. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.7 percent, and average weekly earnings grew by 3.3 percent. (See table B-3.)

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal ad- justment factors for the labor force series derived from the Current Popula- tion Survey (CPS), or household survey, to incorporate the data for that year. This year, seasonally adjusted data for January 2000-December 2004 were subject to revision. (Seasonally adjusted establishment data will be revised next month, concurrent with the introduction of annual benchmark adjustments.)

Beginning with the release of December 2003 data in January 2004, BLS converted to the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment to produce seasonally adjusted labor force estimates from the CPS. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available monthly estimates, including those for the most current month, in developing seasonal factors. Due to this change in methodology, BLS no longer publishes seasonal factors for the CPS estimates. Historical seasonally adjusted household survey data are revised only at the end of each calendar year.

The January 2005 issue of Employment and Earnings will contain an article describing the current seasonal adjustment methodology for the household sur- vey data and revised data for the most recent months or quarters for all re- gularly published tables containing seasonally adjusted household survey data. A copy of the article is available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsrs2005.pdf on the Internet. Historical data for the household series contained in the "A" tables of this release also can be accessed at http://www.bls.gov/cps/ cpsatabs.htm on the BLS Internet site. Revised historical seasonally adjusted monthly and quarterly data also are available on the Internet at ftp://ftp. bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/.

1/ Because of the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment, there is no revised estimate for December.

HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

2003 2004 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: Data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.