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Payroll employment little changed in February 2019

March 12, 2019

Total nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in February 2019 (+20,000) and increased 2.5 million over the year. Over the month, employment continued to trend up in professional and business services, health care, and wholesale trade, while construction employment declined.
1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month net changes in nonfarm payroll employment compared with
prior 3-, 6-, and 12-month averages, seasonally adjusted, February 2019
Industry Current 1-month change (p) Current 3-month change (p) Current 6-month change (p) Current 12-month change (p) Prior 3-month average Prior 6-month average Prior 12-month average

Mining and logging

       -5,000 6,000 12,000       48,000 (1) 2,700 4,200 5,000

Construction

      -31,000 (1) 38,000       85,000 (1)      223,000 (1) 24,700 25,000 27,300

Manufacturing

 4,000       45,000 (1)      119,000 (1)      242,000 (1) 22,700 20,500 22,400

Wholesale trade

 10,900       33,400 (1)       53,400 (1)       94,900 (1) 11,300 10,300 7,300

Retail trade

 -6,100 1,700       -1,700       -4,500 13,400 1,700 2,100

Transportation and warehousing

 -3,000 25,500       96,600 (1)      194,500 (1) 17,400 20,600 18,800

Utilities

 -300 600 2,400 -600 400 600 100

Information

 0 -14,000 -11,000 3,000 -5,700 -2,800 300

Financial activities

 6,000 16,000       47,000 (1)      102,000 (1) 4,300 8,700 10,200

Professional and business services

 42,000       94,000 (1)      236,000(1)      537,000 (1) 28,700 42,000 44,900

Education and health services

 4,000      135,000 (1)      226,000 (1)      499,000 (1) 53,300 47,000 44,300

Leisure and hospitality

 0      154,000 (1)      248,000 (1)      410,000 (1) 64,300 44,200 36,300

Other services

 3,000       22,000 37,000       78,000 (1) 6,700 6,700 6,600

Government

 -5,000 1,000 -11,000 83,000 700 5,000 9,500
Footnotes:

(p) = preliminary.

(1) = statistically significant.

In February, employment in professional and business services continued to trend up (+42,000), in line with its average monthly gain over the prior 12 months.

In February, wholesale trade employment continued its upward trend (+11,000). The industry added 95,000 jobs over the year, largely among durable goods wholesalers.

Employment in construction declined by 31,000 in February, partially offsetting an increase of 53,000 in January. In February, employment declined in heavy and civil engineering construction (-13,000). Over the year, construction added 223,000 jobs.

Manufacturing employment changed little in February (+4,000), after increasing by an average of 22,000 per month over the prior 12 months.

Employment in other major industries, including mining, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and government, showed little
or no change over the month.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. See "The Employment Situation — February 2019" to learn more. For additional charts, see Graphics for Economic News Releases: The Employment Situation.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Payroll employment little changed in February 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/payroll-employment-little-changed-in-february-2019.htm (visited December 03, 2024).

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