BLS U S Bureau of Labor Statistics : Employment Situation

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Technical information:

Household data: [phone] •[e-mail]•www.bls.gov/cpsEstablishment data: [phone] •[e-mail]• www.bls.gov/ces

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THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION - DECEMBER 2018

USDL-19-0002

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 312,000 in December, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, food services and drinking places, construction, manufacturing, and retail trade.

Chart 1. Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, December 2016 - December 2018

Chart 2. Nonfarm payroll employment over-the-month change, seasonally adjusted, December 2016 - December 2018

Percent

6.0

5.5

5.0

3.5

3.0

Thousands

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

-50

Dec-16

Mar-17

Jun-17

Sep-17

Dec-17

Mar-18

Jun-18

Sep-18

Dec-18

Dec-16

Mar-17

Jun-17

Sep-17

Dec-17

Mar-18

Jun-18

Sep-18

Dec-18

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

Seasonally adjusted household survey data have been revised using updated seasonal adjustment factors, a procedure done at the end of each calendar year. Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2014 were subject to revision. The unemployment rates for January 2018 through November 2018 (as originally published and as revised) appear in table A on page 5, along with additional information about the revisions.

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 3.9 percent in December, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 276,000 to 6.3 million. A year earlier, the jobless rate was 4.1 percent, and the number of unemployed persons was 6.6 million. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.6 percent) and Blacks (6.6 percent) increased in December. The jobless rates for adult women (3.5 percent), teenagers (12.5 percent), Whites (3.4 percent), Asians (3.3 percent), and Hispanics (4.4 percent) showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of job leavers increased by 142,000 in December to 839,000. Job leavers are unemployed persons who quit or otherwise voluntarily left their previous job and immediately began looking for new employment. (See table A-11.)

In December, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.3 million and accounted for 20.5 percent of the unemployed. Over the year, the number of long-term unemployed was down by 205,000. (See table A-12.)

The labor force participation rate, at 63.1 percent, changed little in December, and the employment-population ratio was 60.6 percent for the third consecutive month. Both measures were up by 0.4 percentage point over the year. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers), at 4.7 million, changed little in December but was down by 329,000 over the year. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)

In December, 1.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little changed from a year earlier. (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 375,000 discouraged workers in December, down by 99,000 from a year earlier. (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 1.2 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in December had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 312,000 in December. Job gains occurred in health care, food services and drinking places, construction, manufacturing, and retail trade. Payroll employment rose by 2.6 million in 2018, compared with a gain of 2.2 million in 2017. (See table B-1.)

Employment in health care rose by 50,000 in December. Within the industry, job gains occurred in ambulatory health care services (+38,000) and hospitals (+7,000). Health care added 346,000 jobs in 2018, more than the gain of 284,000 jobs in 2017.

In December, employment in food services and drinking places increased by 41,000. Over the year, the industry added 235,000 jobs, similar to the increase in 2017 (+261,000).

Construction employment rose by 38,000 in December, with job gains in heavy and civil engineering construction (+16,000) and nonresidential specialty trade construction (+16,000). The construction industry added 280,000 jobs in 2018, compared with an increase of 250,000 in 2017.

Manufacturing added 32,000 jobs in December. Most of the gain occurred in the durable goods component (+19,000), with job growth in fabricated metal products (+7,000) and in computer and electronic products (+4,000). Employment in the nondurable goods component also increased over the month (+13,000). Manufacturing employment increased by 284,000 over the year, with about three-fourths of the gain in durable goods industries. Manufacturing had added 207,000 jobs in 2017.

In December, employment in retail trade rose by 24,000. Job growth occurred in general merchandise stores (+15,000) and automobile dealers (+6,000). These gains were partially offset by a job loss in sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (-9,000). Retail trade employment increased by 92,000 in 2018, after little net change in 2017 (-29,000).

Over the month, employment in professional and business services continued to trend up (+43,000). The industry added 583,000 jobs in 2018, outpacing the 458,000 jobs added in 2017.

Employment in other major industries, including mining, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and government, showed little change over the month.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in December. In manufacturing, both the workweek and overtime increased by 0.1 hour to 40.9 hours and 3.6 hours, respectively. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls held at 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose 11 cents to $27.48. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 84 cents, or 3.2 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 9 cents to $23.05 in December. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised up from +155,000 to +176,000, and the change for October was revised up from +237,000 to +274,000. With these revisions, employment gains in October and November combined were 58,000 more 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.) After revisions, job gains have averaged 254,000 per month over the last 3 months.

_____________

The Employment Situation for January is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 1, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

Upcoming Changes to the Household Survey

Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January 2019 on February 1, 2019, new population controls will be used in the household survey estimation process. These new controls reflect the annual updating of intercensal population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. In accordance with usual practice, historical data will not be revised to incorporate the new controls; consequently, household survey data for January 2019 will not be directly comparable with data for December 2018 or earlier periods. A table showing the effects of the new controls on the major labor force series will be included in the January 2019 news release.

Upcoming Revisions of Establishment Survey Data Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January 2019 on February 1, 2019, the establishment survey will introduce revisions to nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and earnings data to reflect the annual benchmark process and updated seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2017 and seasonally adjusted data beginning with January 2014 are subject to revision. Consistent with standard practice, additional historical data are subject to revision as a result of the benchmark process.

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal adjustment factors for the labor force series derived from the household survey. As a result of this process, seasonally adjusted data for January 2014 through November 2018 were subject to revision. (Not seasonally adjusted data were not subject to revision.) Table A shows the unemployment rates for January 2018 through November 2018, as first published and as revised. The rates changed by one-tenth of a percentage point in 3 of the 11 months and were unchanged in the remaining 8 months. Revised seasonally adjusted data for other major labor force series beginning in December 2017 appear in table B. More information on this year's revisions to seasonally adjusted series is available atwww.bls.gov/web/empsit/cps-seas-adjustment-methodology.pdf. Detailed information on the seasonal adjustment methodology can be found atwww.bls.gov/cps/seasonal-adjustment-methodology.htm. Historical data for the household series contained in the A tables of this news release can be accessed atwww.bls.gov/cps/cpsatabs.htm. Revised historical seasonally adjusted data are available atwww.bls.gov/cps/data.htmand https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ln/.

Table A. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in 2018 and changes due to revision January - November 2018

Month

As first publishedAs revised

Change

January ....................................... February ..................................... March ......................................... April ........................................... May ............................................ June ............................................ July ............................................. August ........................................ September .................................. October ...................................... November ..................................

4.1

4.1

0.0

4.1

4.1

.0

4.1

4.0

-.1

3.9

3.9

.0

3.8

3.8

.0

4.0

4.0

.0

3.9

3.9

.0

3.9

3.8

-.1

3.7

3.7

.0

3.7

3.8

.1

3.7

3.7

.0

HOUSEHOLD DATA

Table B. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age, seasonally adjusted

[Numbers in thousands]

Employment status, sex, and age

TOTAL

Civilian noninstitutional population1 . . . . . .

2017 Dec.

2018

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

MayJuneJulyAug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

256,109 256,780 256,934 257,097 257,272 257,454 257,642 257,843 258,066 258,290 258,514 258,708 258,888

Civilian labor force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160,636 161,123 161,900 161,646 161,551 161,667 162,129 162,209 161,802 162,055 162,694 162,821 163,240

Participation rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

62.7

62.7

63.0

62.9

62.8

62.8

62.9

62.9

62.7

62.7

62.9

62.9

63.1

Employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154,065 154,482 155,213 155,160 155,216 155,539 155,592 155,964 155,604 156,069 156,582 156,803 156,945

Employment-population ratio . . . . . . Unemployed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Unemployment rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Men, 20 years and over

Civilian noninstitutional population1 . . . . . .

Civilian labor force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Participation rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Employment-population ratio . . . . . . Unemployed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Unemployment rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Women, 20 years and over Civilian noninstitutional population1 . . . . . .

Civilian labor force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Participation rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Employment-population ratio . . . . . . Unemployed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Unemployment rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Both sexes, 16 to 19 years Civilian noninstitutional population1 . . . . . .

Civilian labor force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Participation rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Employment-population ratio . . . . . . Unemployed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Unemployment rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

60.2	60.2	60.4	60.4	60.3	60.4	60.4	60.5	60.3	60.4	60.6	60.6	60.6
6,572	6,641	6,687	6,486	6,335	6,128	6,537	6,245	6,197	5,986	6,112	6,018	6,294
4.1	4.1	4.1	4.0	3.9	3.8	4.0	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.8	3.7	3.9

115,292 115,669 115,748 115,832 115,921 116,017 116,115 116,220 116,328 116,437 116,546 116,646 116,739

82,594	82,915	83,258	83,149	83,163	83,257	83,103	83,019	83,044	83,104	83,277	83,408	83,500
71.6	71.7	71.9	71.8	71.7	71.8	71.6	71.4	71.4	71.4	71.5	71.5	71.5
79,493	79,719	80,186	80,091	80,108	80,299	80,006	80,217	80,149	80,251	80,388	80,633	80,501
68.9	68.9	69.3	69.1	69.1	69.2	68.9	69.0	68.9	68.9	69.0	69.1	69.0
3,101	3,196	3,072	3,059	3,055	2,958	3,097	2,801	2,895	2,853	2,889	2,775	2,999
3.8	3.9	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.7	3.4	3.5	3.4	3.5	3.3	3.6

124,057 124,328 124,407 124,491 124,579 124,674 124,771 124,875 124,983 125,091 125,200 125,299 125,393

72,272

72,238

58.3

58.1

69,587

69,620

56.1

56.0

2,686

2,618

3.7

3.6

16,760

16,783

5,771

5,970

34.4

35.6

4,985

5,143

29.7

30.6

785

827

13.6

13.9

1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.

72,595

72,580

72,558

72,590

58.4

58.3

58.2

58.2

69,849

69,946

70,033

70,161

56.1

56.2

56.2

56.3

2,746

2,634

2,525

2,429

3.8

3.6

3.5

16,778

16,774

16,771

16,763

6,047

5,916

5,829

5,820

36.0

35.3

34.8

34.7

5,178

5,123

5,074

5,079

30.9

30.5

30.3

30.3

870

793

755

741

14.4

13.4

13.0

12.7

NOTE: Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

73,155

73,295

73,153

73,107

73,442

73,478

73,769

58.6

58.7

58.5

58.4

58.7

58.6

58.8

70,455

70,622

70,563

70,710

70,935

70,949

71,218

56.5

56.6

56.5

56.5

56.7

56.6

56.8

2,701

2,673

2,590

2,398

2,507

2,529

2,550

3.3

3.7

3.6

3.5

3.3

3.4

3.4

3.5

16,755

16,748

16,755

16,762

16,768

16,763

16,756

5,871

5,896

5,604

5,843

5,974

5,935

5,971

35.0

35.2

33.4

34.9

35.6

35.4

35.6

5,131

5,125

4,892

5,108

5,258

5,221

5,226

30.6

30.6

29.2

30.5

31.4

31.1

31.2

740

771

712

735

715

714

745

12.6

13.1

12.7

12.6

12.0

12.0

12.5