The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.


Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 111,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job growth continued in several service-providing industries over the month, and construction employment also rose. The number of manufacturing jobs continued to decline.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons (7.0 million) and the unemployment rate (4.6%) were about unchanged in January. Over the month, the unemployment rate for Hispanics (5.7 %) increased, while the rates for the other major worker groups--adult men (4.1 %), adult women (4.0%), teenagers (15.0%), whites (4.1%), and blacks (8.0%)—were little changed. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.2%, not season ally adjusted.

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In January, both total employment (146.0 million) and the employment-population ratio (63.3%) were essentially unchanged. The civilian labor force (153.0 million) and the labor force participation rate (66.3%) were also about the same as in December. The participation rate in January was 0.3% age point higher than a year earlier.

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in January-essentially unchanged from a year ago. 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 attached, there were 442,000 discouraged workers in January, about the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 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.

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

In January, total payroll employment increased by 111,000, to 137.3 million, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed gains of 196,000 in November and 206,000 in December (as revised). In 2006, payroll employment rose by an average of 187,000 per month. In January, employment continued to increase in some service-providing industries. In addition, construction employment was up, while manufacturing employment continued to trend down.

In the service-providing sector, health care employment was up by 18,000 in January, following a gain of 43,000 in December. In 2006, health care employment increased by an average of 28,000 a month. In January, employment continued to trend up in hospitals, ambulatory health care, and nursing and residential care facilities.

Professional and business services employment continued to trend up in January (+25,000), following large gains that averaged 69,000 in the prior 2 months. Within this industry, employment in architectural and engineering services rose by 9,000 over the month.

Food services employment was up by 21,000 in January. Over the past 12 months, the industry added 347,000 jobs. Employment continued to expand over the month in transportation and warehousing; the industry has gained 116,000 jobs over the year.

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment was essentially unchanged over the month in both wholesale and retail trade. Employment in financial activities was about unchanged; within the industry, insurance carriers lost 6,000 jobs. In information, employment was little changed following a large increase in December.

In the goods-producing sector, construction employment was up by 22,000 in January. Employment gains in nonresidential building (9,000) and in nonresidential specialty trade contracting (19,000) more than offset small declines in residential construction. Since its peak in February 2006, residential specialty trade contracting has lost 104,000 jobs while its nonresidential counterpart has added 126,000 jobs.

Manufacturing employment continued to trend down over the month. Job losses continued in motor vehicles and parts (-23,000), in furniture and related products (-4,000), and in textile mills (-4,000). Computer and peripheral equipment lost 6,000 jobs over the month. An increase in plastics and rubber employment reflected the return of workers from a strike. Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, mining employment was essentially unchanged.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours in January. Weekly hours for factory workers declined by 0.2 hour to 40.8 hours, while factory overtime hours decreased by 0.1 hour to 4.1 hours. Since peaking in July, the factory workweek fell by 0.7 hour.

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers fell by 0.1% in January to 106.7 (2002=100). The manufacturing index fell by 0.8% to 94.4.

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 3 cents, or 0.2%, in January to $17.09. This increase followed a gain of 7 cents in December. Average weekly earnings fell by 0.1% in January to $577.64. Over the year, both hourly earnings and weekly earnings rose by 4.0%.


Available at:

http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm