U.S. unemployment for January 2012: DOWN to 8.3%
Good news!
The unemployment numbers for January from the Bureau of Labor Statistics came out today, and the news was good! Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.2% to 8.3%. “Job growth was widespread in the private sector, with large employment gains in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government employment changed little over the month.”
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.7 percent) and blacks (13.6 percent) declined in January. The unemployment rates for adult women (7.7 percent), teenagers (23.2 percent), whites (7.4 percent), and Hispanics (10.5 percent) were little changed. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
The number of people who LOST jobs and those who completed temporary jobs FELL to 7.3 million in January. The number of people among the long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) remained roughly the same at 5.5 million and represented 42.9% of the unemployed. Similarly, the number of people who were employed part-time for economic reasons, because their hours had been cut or because they could not find a full-time job, remained roughly constant at 8.8 million in January.
Some 2.8 million people were “marginally attached to the workforce in January (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.” Among these people were 1.1 million discouraged workers, who are not looking for work because they believe that not jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.7 million had not searched for work in the 4 weeks before the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.
Here is what the report said about employment in various industries in January:
Professional and business services continued to add jobs in January (+70,000). About half of the increase occurred in employment services (+33,000). Job gains also occurred in accounting and bookkeeping (+13,000) and in architectural and engineering services (+7,000).
Over the month, employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 44,000, primarily in food services and drinking places (+33,000). Since a recent low in February 2010, food services has added 487,000 jobs.
In January, health care employment continued to grow (+31,000). Within the industry, hospitals and ambulatory care services each added 13,000 jobs.
Wholesale trade employment increased by 14,000 over the month. Since a recent employment low in May 2010, wholesale trade has added 144,000 jobs.
Employment in retail trade continued to trend up in January. Job gains in department stores (+19,000), health and personal care stores (+7,000), and automobile dealers (+7,000) were partially offset by losses in clothing and clothing accessory stores (-14,000). Since an employment trough in December 2009, retail trade has added 390,000 jobs.
In January, employment in information declined by 13,000, including a loss of 8,000 jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industry.
In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing added 50,000 jobs. Nearly all of the increase occurred in durable goods manufacturing, with job growth in fabricated metal products (+11,000), machinery (+11,000), and motor vehicles and parts (+8,000). Durable goods manufacturing has added 418,000 jobs over the past 2 years.
Employment in construction increased by 21,000 in January, following a gain of 31,000 in the previous month. Over the past 2 months, nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 30,000 jobs.
Mining added 10,000 jobs in January, with most of the gain in support activities for mining (+8,000). Since a recent low in October 2009, mining employment has expanded by 172,000.
Government employment changed little in January. Over the past 12 months, the sector has lost 276,000 jobs, with declines in local government; state government, excluding education; and the U.S. Postal Service.
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private, nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $23.29. In January, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $19.62.
There were UPWARD revisions to employment figures for November and December. Total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised from +100,000 to +157,000, and the change for December was revised from +200,000 to +203,000. Monthly revisions result from
additional sample reports and the monthly recalculation of seasonal factors. The annual benchmark process also contributed to these revisions. The benchmark revisions are extensively discussed, and tabular data are presented.
-Bill at
Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”
You can view higher-resolution photos at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. The Cheshire Cat Photo Store on Zazzle® contains a wide variety of apparel and gifts decorated with our images of California. All locations are accessible from here. LIKE Cheshire Cat Photo on Facebook here! If you don’t see what you want or would be on our email list for updates, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.
