Employment Situation Summary

Transmission of material in this news release is embargoed until             USDL-19-0002
8:30 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 4, 2019

Technical information:
 Household data:      (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
 Establishment data:  (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:        (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                       THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- DECEMBER 2018


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.

   _____________________________________________________________________________________
  |                                                                                     |
  |                  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, 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
at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cps-seas-adjustment-methodology.pdf. Detailed information
on the seasonal adjustment methodology can be found at
www.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 at www.bls.gov/cps/cpsatabs.htm. Revised historical seasonally adjusted data
are available at www.bls.gov/cps/data.htm and https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ln/.


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

                                  As First             As 
Month                             Computed          Revised              Change

January.............                 4.1              4.1                 0.0
February............                 4.1              4.1                  .0
March...............                 4.1              4.0                 -.1
April...............                 3.9              3.9                  .0
May.................                 3.8              3.8                  .0
June................                 4.0              4.0                  .0
July................                 3.9              3.9                  .0
August..............                 3.9              3.8                 -.1
September...........                 3.7              3.7                  .0
October.............                 3.7              3.8                  .1
November............                 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
	2017
	2018




	Dec.
	Jan.
	Feb.
	Mar.
	Apr.
	May
	June
	July
	Aug.
	Sept.
	Oct.
	Nov.
	Dec.








	
TOTAL

				





	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)

	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

	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





	
Unemployed

	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





	
Unemployment rate

	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





	




	
Men, 20 years and over

				





	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)

	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





	
Civilian labor force

	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





	
Participation rate

	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





	
Employed

	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





	
Employment-population ratio

	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





	
Unemployed

	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





	
Unemployment rate

	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





	




	
Women, 20 years and over

				





	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)

	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





	
Civilian labor force

	72,272
	72,238
	72,595
	72,580
	72,558
	72,590
	73,155
	73,295
	73,153
	73,107
	73,442
	73,478
	73,769





	
Participation rate

	58.3
	58.1
	58.4
	58.3
	58.2
	58.2
	58.6
	58.7
	58.5
	58.4
	58.7
	58.6
	58.8





	
Employed

	69,587
	69,620
	69,849
	69,946
	70,033
	70,161
	70,455
	70,622
	70,563
	70,710
	70,935
	70,949
	71,218





	
Employment-population ratio

	56.1
	56.0
	56.1
	56.2
	56.2
	56.3
	56.5
	56.6
	56.5
	56.5
	56.7
	56.6
	56.8





	
Unemployed

	2,686
	2,618
	2,746
	2,634
	2,525
	2,429
	2,701
	2,673
	2,590
	2,398
	2,507
	2,529
	2,550





	
Unemployment rate

	3.7
	3.6
	3.8
	3.6
	3.5
	3.3
	3.7
	3.6
	3.5
	3.3
	3.4
	3.4
	3.5





	




	
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years

				





	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)

	16,760
	16,783
	16,778
	16,774
	16,771
	16,763
	16,755
	16,748
	16,755
	16,762
	16,768
	16,763
	16,756





	
Civilian labor force

	5,771
	5,970
	6,047
	5,916
	5,829
	5,820
	5,871
	5,896
	5,604
	5,843
	5,974
	5,935
	5,971





	
Participation rate

	34.4
	35.6
	36.0
	35.3
	34.8
	34.7
	35.0
	35.2
	33.4
	34.9
	35.6
	35.4
	35.6





	
Employed

	4,985
	5,143
	5,178
	5,123
	5,074
	5,079
	5,131
	5,125
	4,892
	5,108
	5,258
	5,221
	5,226





	
Employment-population ratio

	29.7
	30.6
	30.9
	30.5
	30.3
	30.3
	30.6
	30.6
	29.2
	30.5
	31.4
	31.1
	31.2





	
Unemployed

	785
	827
	870
	793
	755
	741
	740
	771
	712
	735
	715
	714
	745





	
Unemployment rate

	13.6
	13.9
	14.4
	13.4
	13.0
	12.7
	12.6
	13.1
	12.7
	12.6
	12.0
	12.0
	12.5









	

		Footnotes

		(1) The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.

	








	

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

The PDF version of the news release

News release charts

Supplemental Files Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Last Modified Date: January 04, 2019