Read the latest Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation

The latest Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation

(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jec.pdf) 

was issued today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The text is below.

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                          Statement of

 

                           Keith Hall                                

                          Commissioner                                

                   Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

                     Friday, January 7, 2011

 

 

     In December, the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage

point to 9.4 percent, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by

103,000.  From a recent low point in December 2009, payroll

employment has risen by 1.1 million, or an average of 94,000 per

month.  In December, employment increased in leisure and

hospitality and in health care but was little changed in other

major industries.

 

     The leisure and hospitality sector added 47,000 jobs over

the month, with continued gains in food services.  Employment

also rose in amusements, gambling, and recreation.  Since a

recent low point in leisure and hospitality employment in

December 2009, the industry has added nearly a quarter of a

million jobs.

 

     Health care employment expanded by 36,000 in December and by

266,000 in all of 2010.  Over the month, employment continued to

rise in several health-related services, including outpatient

care centers, hospitals, and nursing and residential care

facilities.  Employment in temporary help services also continued

to trend up in December and has increased by 495,000 since a

recent low in September 2009.

 

     Over the month, job growth continued in support activities

for mining operations; the industry has added 77,000 jobs since a

recent low in October 2009.

 

     Construction employment changed little in December and, on

net, has been essentially flat since March.  In contrast, job

losses from August 2006 through February 2010 totaled 2.1

million.  In December, retail trade employment was little

changed, although job gains in the industry totaled 116,000 for

all of 2010.  Over the month, motor vehicle and parts dealers

added 8,000 jobs, in line with the trend since July.  December's

employment gain among motor vehicle and parts dealers was offset

by a loss of 8,000 in health and personal care stores.

 

     Manufacturing employment was little changed over the month.

Following modest job growth earlier in 2010, manufacturing

employment has been relatively flat, on net, since May.  The

factory workweek for all employees was down 0.1 hour in December

but was 1.5 hours above the low point of 38.7 hours in June 2009.

 

     Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm

payrolls rose by 3 cents in December to $22.78.  Over the past 12

months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 percent.  From

November 2009 to November 2010, the Consumer Price Index for All

Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.1 percent.

 

     Turning to measures from our survey of households, the

jobless rate declined by 0.4 percentage point in December to 9.4

percent.  A year earlier, the unemployment rate was 9.9 percent.

The number of unemployed persons also declined over the month,

from 15.0 million to 14.5 million, largely reflecting a decrease

in the number of unemployed adult men.  Among the unemployed,

44.3 percent had been jobless for 27 weeks or more in December,

up from 40.1 percent a year earlier.

 

     The labor force participation rate edged down in December to

64.3 percent and was slightly lower than a year earlier (64.7

percent).  The number of persons working part time who would have

preferred full-time employment was essentially unchanged in

December at 8.9 million.  The number of discouraged workers grew

over the year by 389,000 to 1.3 million in December (not

seasonally adjusted).  Discouraged workers are persons outside

the labor force who are not looking for work because they believe

their job search efforts would be unsuccessful.

 

     Data users are reminded that seasonal adjustment factors for

the household survey are updated each year with the release of

the December data.  Seasonally adjusted estimates going back 5

years--to January 2006--were subject to revision.

 

     Summarizing labor market developments for December, the

jobless rate fell to 9.4 percent, and nonfarm payroll employment

rose by 103,000.

 

 

 

 

 

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