Transmission of material in this release is embargoed USDL-13-0144
until 8:30 a.m. (EST) Friday, February 1, 2013
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 * cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 * cesinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/ces
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JANUARY 2013
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in January, and the unemployment
rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Retail trade, construction, health care, and wholesale trade added jobs
over the month.
Household Survey Data
The number of unemployed persons, at 12.3 million, was little changed in January. The
unemployment rate was 7.9 percent and has been at or near that level since September 2012.
(See table A-1.) (See the note and tables B and C for information about annual population
adjustments to the household survey estimates.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.3 percent), adult
women (7.3 percent), teenagers (23.4 percent), whites (7.0 percent), blacks (13.8 percent),
and Hispanics (9.7 percent) showed little or no change in January. The jobless rate for
Asians was 6.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier.
(See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
In January, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was
about unchanged at 4.7 million and accounted for 38.1 percent of the unemployed. (See
table A-12.)
Both the employment-population ratio (58.6 percent) and the civilian labor force
participation rate (63.6 percent) were unchanged in January. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 8.0 million, changed
little in January. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been
cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)
In January, 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by
366,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals
were not in the labor force, 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. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 804,000 discouraged workers in January, a decline
of 255,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers
are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for
them. The remaining 1.6 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-16.)
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| |
| Changes to The Employment Situation Data |
| |
|Establishment survey data have been revised as a result of the annual |
|benchmarking process and the updating of seasonal adjustment factors. Also, |
|household survey data for January 2013 reflect updated population estimates. |
|See the notes at the end of this release for more information about these |
|changes. |
| |
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Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in January. In 2012, employment growth
averaged 181,000 per month. In January, job gains occurred in retail trade, construction,
health care, and wholesale trade, while employment edged down in transportation and
warehousing. (See table B-1.)
Employment in retail trade rose by 33,000 in January, compared with an average monthly
gain of 20,000 in 2012. Within the industry, job growth continued in January in motor
vehicle and parts dealers (+7,000), electronics and appliance stores (+5,000), and
clothing stores (+10,000).
In January, employment in construction increased by 28,000. Nearly all of the job growth
occurred in specialty trade contractors (+26,000), with the gain about equally split
between residential and nonresidential specialty trade contractors. Since reaching a low
in January 2011, construction employment has grown by 296,000, with one-third of the gain
occurring in the last 4 months. However, the January 2013 level of construction employment
remained about 2 million below its previous peak level in April 2006.
Health care continued to add jobs in January (+23,000). Within health care, job growth
occurred in ambulatory health care services (+28,000), which includes doctors' offices
and outpatient care centers. This gain was partially offset by a loss of 8,000 jobs in
nursing and residential care facilities. Over the year, health care employment has
increased by 320,000.
Employment increased in wholesale trade (+15,000) in January, with most of the increase
occurring in its nondurable goods component (+11,000). Since the recent low point in
May 2010, wholesale trade has added 291,000 jobs.
Mining employment increased (+6,000) over the month; employment in this industry has risen
by 23,000 over the past 3 months.
Employment edged down in transportation and warehousing in January (-14,000). Couriers and
messengers lost 19,000 jobs over the month, following strong seasonal hiring in
November and December. Air transportation employment decreased by 5,000 in January.
Manufacturing employment was essentially unchanged in January and has changed little, on
net, since July 2012.
Employment in other major industries, including financial activities, professional and
businesses services, leisure and hospitality, and government, showed little change over
the month.
In January, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged
at 34.4 hours. The manufacturing workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.6 hours, and factory
overtime was unchanged at 3.3 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory
employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 33.6 hours. (See tables B-2
and B-7.)
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to
$23.78. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.1 percent. In January,
average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased
by 5 cents to $19.97. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised from +161,000 to
+247,000, and the change for December was revised from +155,000 to +196,000. Monthly
revisions result from additional reports received from businesses since the last published
estimates and the monthly recalculation of seasonal factors. The annual benchmark process
also contributed to these revisions.
_____________
The Employment Situation for February is scheduled to be released on Friday, March 8, 2013,
at 8:30 a.m. (EST).
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. These counts are derived
principally from unemployment insurance tax records for March 2012. The benchmark process
results in revisions to not seasonally adjusted data from April 2011 forward. Seasonally
adjusted data from January 2008 forward are subject to revision. In addition, data for some
series prior to 2008, both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, incorporate minor revisions.
The total nonfarm employment level for March 2012 was revised upward by 422,000 (424,000
on a not seasonally adjusted basis). Table A presents revised total nonfarm employment data
on a seasonally adjusted basis for January through December 2012.
All revised historical Current Employment Statistics (CES) data, as well as an article that
discusses the benchmark and post-benchmark revisions and other technical issues can be
accessed through the CES homepage at www.bls.gov/ces/. Information on the data released
today also may be obtained by calling (202) 691-6555.
Table A. Revisions in total nonfarm employment, January-December 2012, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
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| |
| Level | Over-the-month change
|---------------------------------------------------------------------
Year and month | As | | | As | |
|previously | As | Difference |previously| As | Difference
|published | revised | |published | revised |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | | |
2012 | | | | | |
| | | | | |
January............| 132,461 | 132,809 | 348 | 275 | 311 | 36
February...........| 132,720 | 133,080 | 360 | 259 | 271 | 12
March..............| 132,863 | 133,285 | 422 | 143 | 205 | 62
April..............| 132,931 | 133,397 | 466 | 68 | 112 | 44
May................| 133,018 | 133,522 | 504 | 87 | 125 | 38
June...............| 133,063 | 133,609 | 546 | 45 | 87 | 42
July...............| 133,244 | 133,762 | 518 | 181 | 153 | -28
August.............| 133,436 | 133,927 | 491 | 192 | 165 | -27
September..........| 133,568 | 134,065 | 497 | 132 | 138 | 6
October............| 133,705 | 134,225 | 520 | 137 | 160 | 23
November...........| 133,866 | 134,472 | 606 | 161 | 247 | 86
December (p).......| 134,021 | 134,668 | 647 | 155 | 196 | 41
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p = preliminary.
Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household Survey
Effective with data for January 2013, updated population estimates have been used in the household
survey. Population estimates for the household survey are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each
year, the Census Bureau updates the estimates to reflect new information and assumptions about the
growth of the population since the previous decennial census. The change in population reflected
in the new estimates results from adjustments for net international migration, updated vital
statistics and other information, and some methodological changes in the estimation process.
In accordance with usual practice, BLS will not revise the official household survey estimates
for December 2012 and earlier months. To show the impact of the population adjustment, however,
differences in selected December 2012 labor force series based on the old and new population
estimates are shown in table B.
The adjustment increased the estimated size of the civilian noninstitutional population in December
by 138,000, the civilian labor force by 136,000, employment by 127,000, unemployment by 9,000, and
persons not in the labor force by 2,000. The total unemployment rate, employment-population ratio,
and labor force participation rate were unaffected.
Data users are cautioned that these annual population adjustments affect the comparability of
household data series over time. Table C shows the effect of the introduction of new population
estimates on the comparison of selected labor force measures between December 2012 and January
2013. Additional information on the population adjustments and their effect on national labor
force estimates are available at www.bls.gov/cps/cps13adj.pdf.
Table B. Effect of the updated population controls on December 2012 estimates by sex, race, and
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, not seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | |
| | | | | Black | |
| | | | | or | | Hispanic
Category |Total | Men | Women| White | African| Asian | or Latino
| | | | |American| | ethnicity
| | | | | | |
________________________________________|______|_____|______|_______|________|_______|____________
| | | | | | |
Civilian noninstitutional population..| 138 | 41 | 98 | -164 | 63 | 246 | -218
Civilian labor force................| 136 | 49 | 87 | -74 | 52 | 161 | -156
Participation rate................| .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0
Employed...........................| 127 | 47 | 80 | -64 | 44 | 150 | -139
Employment-population ratio.......| .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0
Unemployed.........................| 9 | 3 | 6 | -11 | 8 | 12 | -17
Unemployment rate.................| .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0
Not in labor force..................| 2 | -9 | 11 | -90 | 11 | 85 | -62
________________________________________|______|_____|______|_______|________|_______|____________
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Estimates for the above race groups
(white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented
for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
Table C. December 2012-January 2013 changes in selected labor force measures,
with adjustments for population control effects
(Numbers in thousands)
______________________________________________________________________________
| | |
| | | Dec.-Jan.
| Dec.-Jan. | 2013 | change,
| change, | population | after re-
Category | as | control | moving the
| published | effect | population
| | | control
| | | effect (1)
_______________________________________|___________|____________|_____________
| | |
Civilian noninstitutional population.| 313 | 138 | 175
Civilian labor force...............| 143 | 136 | 7
Participation rate...............| .0 | .0 | .0
Employed..........................| 17 | 127 | -110
Employment-population ratio......| .0 | .0 | .0
Unemployed........................| 126 | 9 | 117
Unemployment rate................| .1 | .0 | .1
Not in labor force.................| 169 | 2 | 167
_______________________________________|___________|____________|_____________
(1) This Dec.-Jan. change is calculated by subtracting the population
control effect from the over-the-month change in the published seasonally
adjusted estimates.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
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| |
| Adjustments to Veteran Population Estimates for the Household Survey |
| |
|Effective with data for January 2013, estimates for veterans in table 5 of this |
|release incorporate population controls derived from an updated Department of |
|Veterans Affairs' population model. Other tables in this release are not affected.|
|In accordance with usual practice, BLS will not revise estimates in table 5 for |
|December 2012 and earlier months. |
| |
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