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Employment in professional and business services up by 97,000 in January 2021

February 09, 2021

Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in January 2021 (+49,000) but is below its February 2020 level by 9.9 million, or 6.5 percent. Employment in professional and business services rose by 97,000 in January but is down by 825,000 since February 2020.

1-, 3-, 6-, and 11-month net changes in nonfarm payroll employment, January 2021
Industry 1-month change Current 3-month change Current 6-month change Change since Feb 2020

Mining and logging

9,000 15,000 16,000 -81,000

Construction

-3,000 63,000 195,000 -256,000

Manufacturing

-10,000 62,000 180,000 -582,000

Wholesale trade

14,300 44,600 94,800 -263,000

Retail trade

-37,800 95,000 483,900 -383,000

Transportation and warehousing

-27,800 71,700 274,200 -164,000

Utilities

600 -1,000 -400 -8,000

Information

16,000 22,000 80,000 -242,000

Financial activities

8,000 36,000 136,000 -93,000

Professional and business services

97,000 348,000 929,000 -825,000

Education and health services

-7,000 5,000 355,000 -1,325,000

Leisure and hospitality

-61,000 -587,000 211,000 -3,880,000

Other services

7,000 -14,000 158,000 -463,000

Government

43,000 -75,000 -48,000 -1,327,000

In January, employment in leisure and hospitality declined by 61,000, following a steep decline in December (-536,000). Since February 2020, employment in leisure and hospitality is down by 3.9 million.

Wholesale trade continued to add jobs in January (+14,000). However, employment in the industry is 263,000 below its February 2020 level. Retail trade lost 38,000 jobs in January, after adding 135,000 jobs in December. Employment in retail trade is 383,000 lower than in February 2020.

Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 28,000 in January and is 164,000 lower than in February 2020.

Employment in manufacturing changed little over the month (-10,000), following 8 months of growth. Employment in manufacturing is up by 803,000 since April 2020 but is 582,000 lower than in February. Construction employment changed little over the month (-3,000), after increasing for 8 consecutive months. However, employment in the industry is down by 256,000 since February 2020. In January, employment changed little in other major industries, including information, financial activities, and other services.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — January 2021." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the January data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment in professional and business services up by 97,000 in January 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/employment-in-professional-and-business-services-up-by-97000-in-january-2021.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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