Transmission of material in this news release is embargoed until USDL-26-0169
8:30 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, February 11, 2026
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 -- JANUARY 2026
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in January, and the unemployment rate changed
little at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred
in health care, social assistance, and construction, while federal government and financial
activities lost jobs.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures
labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment
survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information
about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical
Note.
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| |
| Changes to Establishment Survey Data and Other Information |
| |
| Establishment survey data have been revised as a result of the annual benchmarking |
| process and the updating of seasonal adjustment factors. The birth-death model now |
| incorporates current sample information each month. See the notes at the end of this news |
| release for more information about the establishment survey data, severe weather, and |
| household survey population controls. |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________|
Household Survey Data
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.4
million, changed little in January. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the
jobless rate was 4.0 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 6.9 million. (See table
A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for teenagers declined to 13.6 percent in
January. The jobless rates for adult men (3.8 percent), adult women (4.0 percent), and people
who are White (3.7 percent), Black (7.2 percent), Asian (4.1 percent), or Hispanic (4.7
percent) showed little change over the month. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little in
January at 1.8 million but is up by 386,000 from a year earlier. The long-term unemployed
accounted for 25.0 percent of all unemployed people in January. (See table A-12.)
Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio,
at 59.8 percent, changed little in January. These measures have shown little change over the
year. (See table A-1.)
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 453,000 to 4.9
million in January but is up by 410,000 over the year. These individuals would have preferred
full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they
were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)
In January, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job decreased by
399,000 to 5.8 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not
actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take
a job. (See table A-1.)
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached
to the labor force changed little at 1.7 million in January. These individuals wanted and were
available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked
for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of
the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little
at 475,000 in January. (See Summary table A.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in January. Job gains occurred in health
care, social assistance, and construction, while federal government and financial activities
lost jobs. Payroll employment changed little in 2025 (+15,000 per month on average). (See
table B-1. See the note at the end of this news release and table A for more information about
the annual benchmark process.)
Health care added 82,000 jobs in January, with gains in ambulatory health care services
(+50,000), hospitals (+18,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000). Job
growth in health care averaged 33,000 per month in 2025.
Employment in social assistance increased by 42,000 in January, primarily in individual and
family services (+38,000).
Construction added 33,000 jobs in January, reflecting an employment gain in nonresidential
specialty trade contractors (+25,000). Employment in construction was essentially flat in 2025.
In January, federal government employment continued to decline (-34,000) as some federal
employees who accepted a deferred resignation offer in 2025 came off federal payrolls. Since
reaching a peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 327,000, or 10.9
percent.
Financial activities employment declined by 22,000 in January and is down by 49,000 since
reaching a recent peak in May 2025. Within the industry, insurance carriers and related
activities lost 11,000 jobs over the month.
Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining,
quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade;
transportation and warehousing; information; professional and business services; leisure and
hospitality; and other services.
In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 15
cents, or 0.4 percent, to $37.17. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 3.7 percent. In January, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and
nonsupervisory employees rose by 12 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $31.95. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to
34.3 hours in January. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 40.1
hours, and overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production and
nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours. (See
tables B-2 and B-7.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised down by 15,000, from
+56,000 to +41,000, and the change for December was revised down by 2,000, from +50,000 to
+48,000. With these revisions, employment in November and December combined is 17,000 lower
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. The annual benchmark process also contributed to the
November and December revisions.)
_____________
The Employment Situation for February is scheduled to be released on Friday, March 6, 2026,
at 8:30 a.m. (ET).
Revisions to Establishment Survey Data
In accordance with annual practice, the establishment survey data released today have been
benchmarked to reflect comprehensive counts of payroll jobs for March 2025. These counts are
derived principally from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which counts
jobs covered by the Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax system. The benchmark process results in
revisions to not seasonally adjusted data from April 2024 forward. Seasonally adjusted data
from January 2021 forward are subject to revision. In addition, data for some series prior to
2021, both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, incorporate other revisions.
The seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment level for March 2025 was revised downward by
898,000. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total nonfarm employment level for March 2025
was revised downward by 862,000, or -0.5 percent. Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute
average benchmark revision over the prior 10 years is 0.2 percent.
The change in total nonfarm employment for 2025 was revised from +584,000 to +181,000
(seasonally adjusted). Table A presents revised total nonfarm employment data on a
seasonally adjusted basis from January to December 2025.
All revised historical establishment survey data are available on the BLS website at
www.bls.gov/ces/data/home.htm. In addition, an article that discusses the benchmark and
post-benchmark revisions and other technical issues is available at
www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm.
Also effective with this news release, the establishment survey changed the birth-death model
to incorporate current sample information each month. The change follows the same methodology
applied to the April through October 2024 forecasts during the 2024 post-benchmark period
(see question 9 in the CES Birth-Death Model Frequently Asked Questions page at
www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbdqa.htm).
Table A. Revisions to total nonfarm employment, January to December 2025, seasonally
adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
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| |
| Level | Over-the-month change
|---------------------------------------------------------------------
Year and month | | As | | | As |
| As |previously | Difference| As |previously| Difference
| revised |published | | revised |published |
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| | | | | |
2025 | | | | | |
| | | | | |
January......... | 158,268 | 159,053 | -785 | -48 | 111 | -159
February........ | 158,310 | 159,155 | -845 | 42 | 102 | -60
March........... | 158,377 | 159,275 | -898 | 67 | 120 | -53
April........... | 158,485 | 159,433 | -948 | 108 | 158 | -50
May............. | 158,498 | 159,452 | -954 | 13 | 19 | -6
June............ | 158,478 | 159,439 | -961 | -20 | -13 | -7
July............ | 158,542 | 159,511 | -969 | 64 | 72 | -8
August.......... | 158,472 | 159,485 | -1,013 | -70 | -26 | -44
September....... | 158,548 | 159,593 | -1,045 | 76 | 108 | -32
October......... | 158,408 | 159,420 | -1,012 | -140 | -173 | 33
November........ | 158,449 | 159,476 | -1,027 | 41 | 56 | -15
December(p)..... | 158,497 | 159,526 | -1,029 | 48 | 50 | -2
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(p) = preliminary.
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| |
| Population Control Adjustments to the Household Survey |
| |
| The annual population control adjustments that are usually incorporated with the release |
| of January estimates in February will instead be introduced with the release of February |
| 2026 estimates in March. Consequently, the initial January 2026 household survey estimates |
| in this news release continue to use short-term projections of monthly population estimates|
| derived from population adjustments introduced in January 2025 (based on Vintage 2024 |
| population estimates provided by the U.S. Census Bureau). As soon as practicable, BLS |
| plans to revise January 2026 estimates to incorporate the updated population controls. |
| Additional information will be announced at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop. |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________|
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| |
| Effect of Severe Winter Storms on Employment Estimates |
| |
| Major winter storms and severe cold weather affected large parts of the country in January |
| 2026, primarily after the reference periods for the establishment and household surveys. |
| These events had no discernible effect on national payroll employment, hours, and earnings |
| from the establishment survey, nor on the national unemployment rate from the household |
| survey. (For information on how weather can affect data on employment and hours estimates, |
| see the Frequently Asked Questions section of this news release.) |
| |
| The severe weather did impact the collection of household survey data, and the January |
| response rate of 64.3 percent was below average. The collection of establishment survey |
| data was not impacted by severe weather, and the collection rate was within its normal |
| range. |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________|
United States Department of Labor
