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Total payroll employment up 353,000, professional and business services up 74,000, in January 2024
February 13, 2024
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 353,000 in January 2024, with job gains in professional and business services, health care, retail trade, and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry.
Employment change by industry, January 2024, seasonally adjusted
Industry
1-month change
1-month percent change
12-month change
12-month percent change
Employment
Mining and logging
-6,000
-0.9
4,000
0.6
635,000
Utilities
1,800
0.3
17,100
3.0
585,500
Wholesale trade
2,100
0.0
90,400
1.5
6,164,900
Other services
5,000
0.1
84,000
1.5
5,868,000
Financial activities
8,000
0.1
103,000
1.1
9,248,000
State government
10,000
0.2
202,000
3.9
5,408,000
Construction
11,000
0.1
216,000
2.7
8,137,000
Federal government
11,000
0.4
86,000
3.0
2,968,000
Leisure and hospitality
11,000
0.1
479,000
2.9
16,824,000
Information
15,000
0.5
-35,000
-1.1
3,032,000
Local government
15,000
0.1
313,000
2.2
14,715,000
Transportation and warehousing
15,500
0.2
-53,400
-0.8
6,556,000
Manufacturing
23,000
0.2
37,000
0.3
12,979,000
Retail trade
45,200
0.3
140,500
0.9
15,658,800
Professional and business services
74,000
0.3
207,000
0.9
22,978,000
Private education and health services
112,000
0.4
1,037,000
4.2
25,943,000
Note: Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary.
Professional and business services added 74,000 jobs in January and 207,000 jobs over the past 12 months. January's employment increase was considerably higher than the average monthly increase in 2023. Over the month, professional, scientific, and technical services added 42,000 jobs. Employment in temporary help services changed little over the month.
Employment in private education and health services increased 112,000 in January 2024, and 1,037,000 since January 2023. Employment in health care (part of private education and health services) rose by 70,000, with gains in ambulatory health care services, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities. Job growth in health care averaged 58,000 per month in 2023.
Employment in social assistance (also part of private education and health services) rose by 30,000 in January, reflecting continued growth in individual and family services. Employment in social assistance grew by an average of 23,000 per month in 2023.
Retail trade employment increased by 45,000 in January but has shown little net growth since early 2023. Over the month, general merchandise retailers added jobs, while electronics and appliance retailers lost jobs. Over the past 12 months, retail trade employment has increased by 140,500.
Employment in manufacturing edged up in January (+23,000), with job gains in chemical manufacturing and printing and related support activities. Manufacturing experienced little net job growth in 2023.
Government employment continued to trend up in January (+36,000), below the average monthly gain of 57,000 in 2023. A job gain occurred in federal government (+11,000), and employment continued to trend up in local government, excluding education.
United States Department of Labor
