Monthly Jobs Report, Employment Numbers, December 2015
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 292,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment gains occurred in several industries, led by professional and business services, construction, health care, and food services and drinking places. Mining employment continued to decline.
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 2011 were subject to revision. The unemployment rates for January 2015 through November 2015 (as originally published and as revised) appear in table A, along with additional information about the revisions.
Household Survey Data
The number of unemployed persons, at 7.9 million, was essentially unchanged in December, and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent for the third month in a row. Over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 0.6 percentage point and 800,000, respectively.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks declined to 8.3 percent in December, while the rates for adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.4 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (4.5 percent), Asians (4.0 percent), and Hispanics (6.3 percent) showed little or no change.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 2.1 million in December and accounted for 26.3 percent of the unemployed.
The number of long-term unemployed has shown little movement since June, but was down by 687,000 over the year.
The civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.6 percent, was little changed in December and has shown little movement in recent months. In December, the employment population ratio, at 59.5 percent, changed little.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 6.0 million in December but was down by 764,000 over the year. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or becausethey were unable to find a full-time job.
In December, 1.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by 427,000 from a year earlier. (The 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.
Among the marginally attached, there were 663,000 discouraged workers in December, little changed from a year earlier. (The 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.
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 292,000 in December. Employment rose in several industries, including professional and business services, construction, health care, and food services and drinking places. Mining employment continued to decline. In 2015, payroll employment growth totaled 2.7 million, compared with 3.1 million in 2014.
Employment in professional and business services increased by 73,000 in December, with temporary help services accounting for 34,000 of the gain. In 2015, professional and business services added 605,000 jobs, compared with a gain of 704,000 in 2014.
Construction showed strong job growth for the third consecutive month, gaining 45,000 jobs in December. Job gains occurred among specialty trade contractors (+29,000) and in construction of buildings (+10,000). Over the year, construction added 263,000 jobs, compared with a gain of 338,000 jobs in 2014.
In December, health care employment rose by 39,000, with most of the increase occurring in ambulatory health care services (+23,000) and hospitals (+12,000). Job growth in health care averaged 40,000 per month in 2015, compared with 26,000 per month in 2014.
Food services and drinking places added 37,000 jobs in December. In 2015, the industry added 357,000 jobs.
Employment in transportation and warehousing rose by 23,000 in December, with a gain of 15,000 in couriers and messengers.
Within the information industry, motion pictures and sound recording added 15,000 jobs in December, offsetting a decline of 13,000 in the prior month.
Employment in mining continued to decline in December (-8,000). After adding 41,000 jobs in 2014, mining lost 129,000 jobs in 2015, with most of the loss in support activities for mining.
Manufacturing employment changed little in December, though its nondurable goods component added 14,000 jobs. In 2015, manufacturing employment was little changed (+30,000), following strong growth in 2014 (+215,000).
Employment in other major industries, including wholesale trade, retail trade, financial activities, and government, changed little over the month.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.5 hours in December. The manufacturing workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.6 hours, and factory overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 3.3 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours.
In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, at $25.24, changed little (-1 cent), following an increase of 5 cents in November. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent. In December, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, at $21.22, changed little (+2 cents).
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised from +298,000 to +307,000, and the change for November was revised from +211,000 to +252,000. With these revisions, employment gains in October and November combined were 50,000 higher than previously reported.
Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 284,000 per month.
The Employment Situation for January is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 5, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).
Revisions in the Establishment Survey Data
Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January 2016 on February 5, 2016, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey will introduce revisions to nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and earnings data to reflect the annual benchmark adjustment for March 2015 and updated seasonal adjustment factors.
Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2014 and seasonally adjusted data beginning with January 2011 are subject to revision. Consistent with standard practice, some historical data may be subject to minor revisions resulting from issues identified during the benchmark process.
Upcoming Changes to the Household Survey
Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January2016 on February 5, 2016, new population controls will be used in the Current Population Survey (CPS) estimation process. These newcontrols 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 2016 will not be directly comparable with data for December 2015 or earlier periods. A table showing the effects of the new controls on the major labor force series will be included in the January 2016 release.
Upcoming Changes to The Employment Situation News Release
Effective with the release of January 2016 data on February 5, 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will introduce changes to The Employment Situation news release table B-1.
The establishment survey will publish additional industry employment data with the first preliminary release of monthly estimates. Employment Situation table B-1 will include 27 additional industries for both not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted employment. A sample of the new table B-1 is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/ces/cesnewtableb1.htm.
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 Current Population Survey (CPS), or household survey. As a result of this process, seasonally adjusted data for January 2011 through November 2015 were subject to revision.
The unemployment rates for January 2015 through November 2015, as first published and as revised. The revisions to seasonal adjustment did not change the overall civilian unemployment rate for any month of 2015. Revised seasonally adjusted data for other major labor force series beginning in December 2014 appear in table B.
An article describing the seasonal adjustment methodology for the household survey data and revised data for January 2015 through November 2015 is available at www.bls.gov/cps/seasonal-adjustment-methodology-2016.pdf.
Historical data for the household series contained in the A tables of this 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 http://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ln/
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in 2015 and changes due to revision January — November 2015
Month As First Published As Revised Change
- January 5.7 5.7 0.0
- February 5.5 5.5 .0
- March 5.5 5.5 .0
- April 5.4 5.4 .0
- May 5.5 5.5 .0
- June 5.3 5.3 .0
- July 5.3 5.3 .0
- August 5.1 5.1 .0
- September 5.1 5.1 .0
- October 5.0 5.0 .0
- November 5.0 5.0 .0
