Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until
8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, January 7, 2022.
Statement of
William W. Beach
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday, January 7, 2022
Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 199,000 in December, and
the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 3.9
percent. Employment continued to trend up in leisure and
hospitality, in professional and business services, in
manufacturing, in construction, and in transportation and
warehousing.
In 2021, job growth averaged 537,000 per month. Employment
has increased by 18.8 million since April 2020 but is down by
3.6 million, or 2.3 percent, from its level before the onset of
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in February 2020.
Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up
in December (+53,000). The industry has added 2.6 million jobs
in 2021, accounting for 4 in 10 total nonfarm payroll jobs added
over the year. Since February 2020, employment in leisure and
hospitality is down by 1.2 million, or 7.2 percent. Employment
in food services and drinking places rose by 43,000 in December
but is down by 653,000 since February 2020.
Employment in professional and business services continued
its upward trend in December (+43,000) but is slightly below
(-35,000) its February 2020 level. Within the industry,
employment in the professional and technical services component
rose by 37,000 over the month and is 412,000 higher than in
February 2020. (Professional and technical services includes
industries such as computer systems design and related services,
architectural and engineering services, and scientific research
and development services.) Employment in the administrative and
waste services component (which includes temporary help
services) was about unchanged in December (+4,000) and is
374,000 lower than in February 2020.
In December, manufacturing added 26,000 jobs, largely in
durable goods industries. A job gain of 8,000 in machinery
reflected a return of workers from a strike. Employment in
manufacturing is 219,000 lower than in February 2020.
Construction employment increased by 22,000 in December,
with job gains in nonresidential specialty trade contractors
(+13,000) and in heavy and civil engineering construction
(+10,000). Construction employment is down by 88,000 since
February 2020.
Transportation and warehousing added 19,000 jobs in
December. Job gains occurred in support activities for
transportation (+7,000), in air transportation (+6,000), and in
warehousing and storage (+5,000). Employment in couriers and
messengers was essentially unchanged. Since February 2020,
employment in transportation and warehousing is up by 218,000,
led by growth in couriers and messengers (+202,000) and in
warehousing and storage (+181,000).
In December, employment in wholesale trade grew by 14,000
but is down by 129,000 since February 2020.
Employment in mining increased by 7,000 in December but is
down by 81,000 from a peak in January 2019.
In December, employment showed little or no change in other
major industries, including retail trade, information, financial
activities, health care, other services, and government.
In December, the average workweek for all private-sector
workers was unchanged at 34.7 hours. The average workweek for
manufacturing edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.3 hours.
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls increased by 19 cents to $31.31 in December. Over the
past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.7
percent.
Turning to the labor market indicators from the household
survey, the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point
to 3.9 percent in December, and the number of unemployed people
fell by 483,000 to 6.3 million. Over the year, the unemployment
rate is down by 2.8 percentage points, and the number of
unemployed people is down by 4.5 million. In February 2020, the
unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, and there were 5.7 million
people unemployed.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for
adult men (3.6 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), and Whites
(3.2 percent) declined in December. The jobless rates for
teenagers (10.9 percent), Blacks (7.1 percent), Asians (3.8
percent), and Hispanics (4.9 percent) showed little or no change
over the month.
Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers
declined by 202,000 to 1.7 million in December and is down by
1.8 million from a year earlier. However, this measure is above
its February 2020 level of 1.3 million. The number of job
leavers declined by 113,000 in December to 724,000 but is little
different from a year earlier. The number of people on temporary
layoff was little changed over the month at 812,000 and is down
by 2.3 million over the year. This measure has essentially
returned to its February 2020 level of 780,000.
The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often
referred to as the long-term unemployed) declined by 185,000 to
2.0 million in December. This measure is down from 4.0 million a
year earlier but is 887,000 above its February 2020 level. In
December, the long-term unemployed accounted for 31.7 percent of
the unemployed.
The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.9
percent in December and is up by 0.4 percentage point over the
year. The employment-population ratio increased by 0.2
percentage point over the month to 59.5 percent and is up by 2.1
percentage points over the year. However, both measures are
below their February 2020 levels (by 1.5 percentage points and
1.7 percentage points, respectively).
In December, the number of people working part time for
economic reasons decreased by 337,000 to 3.9 million, reflecting
a decline in the number of people whose hours were cut due to
slack work or business conditions. The number of people working
part time for economic reasons has fallen by 2.2 million over
the year and is 461,000 lower than in February 2020.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently
want a job was little changed at 5.7 million in December but is
down by 1.6 million over the year. This measure remains above
its February 2020 level of 5.0 million.
Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a
job, 1.6 million were marginally attached to the labor force in
December, essentially unchanged from November. (People who are
marginally attached to the labor force had not actively looked
for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job,
were available for work, and had looked for a job within the
last 12 months.) The number of discouraged workers, a subset of
the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available
for them, was also essentially unchanged over the month at
463,000.
As in previous months, some workers affected by the
pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on
temporary layoff in December were instead misclassified as
employed but not at work. The degree of misclassification was
highest in the early months of the pandemic and has been
considerably lower in recent months. Since March 2020, BLS has
published an upper-bound estimate of what the unemployment rate
might have been had misclassified workers been included among
the unemployed. The unemployment rates for October 2021 through
December 2021 would have been 0.1 percentage point higher than
reported.
For each month from March 2020 to December 2021, BLS has
published a summary of the impact of the pandemic on The
Employment Situation news release and data. The impact summary
for December is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-
situation-covid19-faq-december-2021.htm. Beginning with the
publication of January 2022 data in February 2022, this month-
specific impact summary will be discontinued. However,
information about the impact of the pandemic, including how to
replicate the misclassification calculation, will continue to be
available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-
and-response-on-the-employment-situation-news-release.htm.
Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the
household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally
adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because
of the pandemic was 11.1 percent in December, little changed
from November. These data refer only to employed people who
teleworked or worked from home for pay at some point in the last
4 weeks specifically because of the pandemic; they do not
include all instances of telework.
In December, the number of people who reported that they
had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost
business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all
or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to
the pandemic--declined by 539,000 in December to 3.1 million.
Among those who reported in December that they were unable to
work because of pandemic-related closures or lost business, 15.9
percent received at least some pay from their employer for the
hours not worked, little different than the prior month.
Among those not in the labor force in December, 1.1 million
people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic,
little changed from November. (To be counted as unemployed, by
definition, individuals must either be actively searching for
work or on temporary layoff.)
Following our regular annual practice, seasonal adjustment
factors for the household survey data have been updated with the
release of December data. Seasonally adjusted estimates going
back 5 years--to January 2017--were subject to revision.
In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 199,000
in December, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.9 percent.
United States Department of Labor
