January 2009 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 fell sharply in January (-598,000) and the unem- ployment rate rose from 7.2 to 7.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007; about one- half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months. In January, job losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons (11.6 million) and the unemployment rate (7.6 percent) rose in January. Over the past 12 months, the number of un- employed persons has increased by 4.1 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 2.7 percentage points. (See table A-1.)

The unemployment rate continued to trend upward in January for adult men (7.6 percent), adult women (6.2 percent), whites (6.9 percent), blacks (12.6 percent), and Hispanics (9.7 percent). The jobless rate for teenagers was un- changed at 20.8 percent. The unemployment rate for Asians was 6.2 percent in January, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs increased to 7.0 million in January. This measure has grown by 3.2 million during the last 12 months. (See table A-8.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.6 million in January. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed was up by 1.3 million. The number of persons unemployed less than 5 weeks rose to 3.7 million in January. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force participation rate, at 65.5 percent in January, has edged down in recent months. The employment-population ratio declined by 0.5 percentage point to 60.5 percent over the month, and by 2.4 percentage points over the year. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged in January at 7.8 million; however, this measure was up by 3.1 million over the past 12 months. Included in this category are persons who would like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 2.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in January, about 400,000 more than 12 months earlier. These individuals 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. Among the marginally at- tached, there were 734,000 discouraged workers in January, up by about 270,000 from a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.4 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-13.)

1 Changes in household data levels are not shown due to the introduction of updated population controls. See the note on page 5 for more information. 2 Establishment data have been revised to reflect March 2008 benchmark levels and updated seasonal adjustment factors. See the note on page 4 for more information. 3 Includes other industries, not shown separately. 4 Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated using unrounded data. 5 Data relate to private production and nonsupervisory workers. p = preliminary.

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply (-598,000) in January. Since the recession began in December 2007, 3.6 million jobs have been lost, with about half of the decrease occurring in the last 3 months. In January, employment declined in nearly all major industries, while health care and private education added jobs. (See table B-1.)

Manufacturing employment fell by 207,000 in January, the largest 1-month decline since October 1982. In January, durable goods manufacturing lost 157,000 jobs, with notable decreases in fabricated metal products (-37,000), motor vehicles and parts (-31,000), and machinery (-22,000). Employment in nondurable goods manufacturing declined by 50,000 over the month.

Construction lost 111,000 jobs in January. Employment in the industry has fallen by about 1.0 million since peaking in January 2007. Employment fell across most component industries over the month.

The temporary help industry lost 76,000 jobs in January. Since its recent peak in December 2006, temporary help employment has declined by 695,000. Professional and technical services lost 29,000 jobs in January.

Retail trade employment fell by 45,000 in January and by 592,000 since a peak in November 2007. In January, employment declined in automobile dealer- ships (-14,000), building material and garden supply stores (-10,000), depart- ment stores (-9,000), and furniture and home furnishing stores (-7,000). Over the month, wholesale trade employment fell by 31,000.

Transportation and warehousing lost 44,000 jobs in January and 202,000 since the start of the recession. Most of the decline occurred over the last 5 months. In January, employment fell in truck transportation (-25,000), support activities for transportation (-9,000), and couriers and messengers (-4,000).

Employment in financial activities declined by 42,000 over the month and by 388,000 since a peak in December 2006. In January, job losses occurred in se- curities, commodity contracts, and investments (-15,000) and in credit intermedi- ation (-10,000).

Health care employment continued to trend up in January with a gain of 19,000. Employment gains in the industry averaged 30,000 a month in 2008. Employment in private education rose by 33,000 over the month.

The change in total nonfarm employment for November was revised from -584,000 to -597,000, and the change for December was revised from -524,000 to -577,000. Monthly revisions result from additional sample reports and the monthly recalcula- tion of seasonal factors. This month, the annual benchmarking process also con- tributed to these revisions.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In January, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.3 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the manufacturing workweek and factory overtime decreased by 0.1 hour over the month, to 39.8 and 2.9 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.7 percent in January. The manufacturing index declined by 2.1 percent over the month. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

In January, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 7 cents in December and 6 cents in November. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings increased by 3.9 percent, and average weekly earnings rose by 2.7 percent. (See table B-3.)