by Calculated Risk on 2/07/2025 08:30:00 AM
From the BLS: Employment Situation
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 143,000 in January, and the unemployment rate edged
down to 4.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred
in health care, retail trade, and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining,
quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry.
…
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised up by 49,000, from
+212,000 to +261,000, and the change for December was revised up by 51,000, from +256,000 to
+307,000. With these revisions, employment in November and December combined is 100,000 higher
than previously reported.
emphasis added
Click on graph for larger image.
The first graph shows the jobs added per month since January 2021.
Payrolls for November and December were revised up 100 thousand, combined.
The second graph shows the year-over-year change in total non-farm employment since 1968.
In January, the year-over-year change was 2.02 million jobs. Employment was up solidly year-over-year.
The third graph shows the employment population ratio and the participation rate.
The Labor Force Participation Rate was increased to 62.6% in January, from 62.5% in December. This is the percentage of the working age population in the labor force.
The Employment-Population ratio increased to 60.1% from 60.0% in December (blue line).
I’ll post the 25 to 54 age group employment-population ratio graph later.
The fourth graph shows the unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate decreased to 4.0% in January from 4.1% in December.
This was below consensus expectations; however, November and December payrolls were revised up by 100,000 combined. Â
On the annual benchmark revision:
The seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by
589,000. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total nonfarm employment level for March 2024
was revised downward by 598,000, or -0.4 percent. Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute average
benchmark revision over the past 10 years is 0.1 percent.
I’ll have more later …
