January 2025 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.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 143,000 in January, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate edged down to 4.0 percent in January, after accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls. The number of unemployed people, at 6.8 million, changed little over the month. (See table A-1. See the note at the end of this news release and tables B and C for more information about annual population adjustments to the household survey estimates.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.7 percent), adult women (3.7 percent), teenagers (11.8 percent), Whites (3.5 percent), Blacks (6.2 percent), Asians (3.7 percent), and Hispanics (4.8 percent) showed little or no change in January. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 1.4 million, changed little in January. The long-term unemployed accounted for 21.1 percent of all unemployed people. (See table A-12.)

In January, both the labor force participation rate (62.6 percent) and the employment- population ratio (60.1 percent) were unchanged, after accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls. Both measures have been relatively flat in recent months. (See table A-1. For additional information about the effects of the population adjustments, see table C.)

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.5 million, changed little in January. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)

The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 5.5 million, was little changed in January. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. (See table A-1.)

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force, at 1.6 million, was essentially unchanged in January. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, changed little at 592,000 in January. (See Summary table A.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 143,000 in January, similar to the average monthly gain of 166,000 in 2024. In January, job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry. (See table B-1. See the note at the end of this news release and table A for more information about the annual benchmark process.)

Health care added 44,000 jobs in January, with gains in hospitals (+14,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000), and home health care services (+11,000). Job growth in health care averaged 57,000 per month in 2024.

Employment in retail trade increased by 34,000 in January. Job gains occurred in general merchandise retailers (+31,000) and furniture and home furnishings retailers (+5,000). Electronics and appliance retailers lost 7,000 jobs. Retail trade employment had shown little net change in 2024.

Social assistance added 22,000 jobs in January, led by individual and family services (+20,000). Employment also rose in the community food and housing, emergency, and other relief services industry (+4,000). Employment in social assistance grew by an average of 20,000 per month in 2024.

Government employment continued to trend up in January (+32,000), similar to the average monthly gain in 2024 (+38,000).

Employment in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry declined by 8,000 over the month, following little net change in 2024. In January, the job loss was concentrated in support activities for mining (-8,000).

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and other services.

In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 17 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $35.87. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.1 percent. In January, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 16 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $30.84. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.1 hours in January. In manufacturing, the average workweek was little changed at 40.0 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 2.8 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.2 hour to 33.5 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised up by 49,000, from +212,000 to +261,000, and the change for December was revised up by 51,000, from +256,000 to +307,000. With these revisions, employment in November and December combined is 100,000 higher than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors. The annual benchmark process also contributed to the November and December revisions.)

Revisions to Establishment Survey Data

In accordance with annual practice, the establishment survey data released today have been benchmarked to reflect comprehensive counts of payroll jobs for March 2024. These counts are derived principally from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which counts jobs covered by the Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax system. The benchmark process results in revisions to not seasonally adjusted data from April 2023 forward. Seasonally adjusted data from January 2020 forward are subject to revision. In addition, data for some series prior to 2020, both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, incorporate other revisions.

The seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by 589,000. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by 598,000, or -0.4 percent. Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute average benchmark revision over the past 10 years is 0.1 percent.

The over-the-year change in total nonfarm employment for March 2024 was revised from +2,900,000 to +2,346,000 (seasonally adjusted). Table A presents revised total nonfarm employment data on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to December 2024.

All revised historical establishment survey data are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/ces/data/home.htm. In addition, an article that discusses the benchmark and post- benchmark revisions and other technical issues is available at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm.

Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household Survey

Effective with data for January 2025, updated population estimates were incorporated into the household survey. Population estimates for the household survey are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau updates their population estimates to incorporate new information and assumptions about the growth of the population since the most recent population base year, typically the last decennial census. The change in population reflected in the new estimates results from adjustments for net international migration, updated vital statistics on births and deaths, and improvements in estimation methodology.

This year’s adjustment was large relative to adjustments in past years. It reflects both updated methodology and new information about net international migration in recent years.

In accordance with usual practice, BLS did not revise the official household survey estimates for December 2024 and earlier months. However, to show the impact of the population adjustments, table B displays differences in selected December 2024 labor force series based on the old and new population estimates.

These annual population adjustments can affect the comparability of household data series over time. Table C shows the effect of the introduction of new population estimates on the change in selected labor force measures between December 2024 and January 2025. Additional information on the population adjustments and their effects on national labor force estimates is available at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cps-pop-control-adjustments.pdf.

Although the official household survey estimates will not be revised, BLS will produce experimental time series back to April 2020 for the total labor force and total employed that account for the January 2025 population control effects. These experimental series will be available in the CPS technical documentation shortly after the publication of this news release on February 7, 2025, at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

Population controls for veterans have also been updated with the release of data for January 2025. These controls are derived from a Department of Veterans Affairs population model. Historical data have not been revised.