Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press 

under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that 

the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Statement of 

William W. Beach 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, January 10, 2020

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 145,000 in December, and 

the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.5 percent. Notable 

employment gains occurred in retail trade and health care, while 

mining lost jobs. In 2019, payroll employment growth totaled 2.1 

million, compared with a gain of 2.7 million in 2018.

Incorporating revisions for October and November, which 

decreased payrolls by 14,000, monthly job gains averaged 184,000 

over the past 3 months. 

In December, employment in retail trade increased by 

41,000, with job gains in clothing and accessories stores 

(+33,000) and in building material and garden supply stores 

(+7,000). For both industries, the December increase followed a 

decline in November. In 2019, retail trade employment changed 

little on net (+9,000), the second year of little employment 

change in the industry.
2

Health care added 28,000 jobs in December. Over the month, 

employment rose in ambulatory care services (+23,000) and 

hospitals (+9,000). In 2019, health care employment rose by 

399,000, following an increase of 350,000 in 2018. 

In December, employment in leisure and hospitality 

continued to trend up (+40,000). In 2019, the industry added 

388,000 jobs, after a similar gain in the prior year (+359,000).

Much of the job growth over the last 2 years occurred in food 

services and drinking places. 

Mining employment fell by 8,000 in December and declined by 

24,000 in 2019. In 2018, the industry added 63,000 jobs. 

Construction employment changed little in December 

(+20,000). Over the year, the industry gained 151,000 jobs, 

about half of the increase in 2018 (+307,000). 

Employment in professional and business services showed 

little change in December (+10,000), following a gain of 53,000 

in November. In 2019, employment growth in this industry totaled 

397,000, down from the gain of 561,000 in 2018.

Employment in transportation and warehousing changed little 

in December (-10,000). The industry added 57,000 jobs in 2019, 

about one-fourth of the gain in 2018 (+216,000).

Manufacturing employment was little changed in December 

(-12,000). Within durable goods manufacturing, fabricated metal 
3

products lost 7,000 jobs. In 2019, manufacturing employment 

changed little (+46,000), after increasing by 264,000 in 2018. 

Employment in other major industries--including wholesale 

trade, information, financial activities and government--also 

showed little change over the month. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls rose by 3 cents in December to $28.32, following a gain 

of 9 cents in November. Over the past 12 months, average hourly 

earnings have risen by 2.9 percent. From November 2018 to 

November 2019, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

(CPI-U) increased by 2.0 percent (on a seasonally adjusted 

basis). 

In December, the major labor market indicators from the 

survey of households continued to show little or no change. Both 

the unemployment rate, at 3.5 percent, and the number of 

unemployed people, at 5.8 million, were unchanged over the 

month. A year earlier, the jobless rate was 3.9 percent, and the 

number of unemployed people was 6.3 million. 

Among the unemployed, the number of people searching for 

work for 27 weeks or more was unchanged at 1.2 million in 

December. These long-term unemployed accounted for 20.5 percent 

of the unemployed. 
4

The labor force participation rate remained at 63.2 percent 

in December. The employment-population ratio was 61.0 percent 

for the fourth month in a row. 

In December, 4.1 million people were working part time for 

economic reasons (also referred to as involuntary part-time 

workers), little changed from the previous month but down by 

507,000 over the year. 

Among those neither working nor looking for work in 

December, 1.2 million were considered marginally attached to the 

labor force, down by 310,000 from a year earlier. (People who 

are marginally attached to the labor force had not looked for 

work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, were 

available for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 

months.) Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally 

attached who believed no jobs were available for them, numbered 

277,000 in December, down by 98,000 from a year earlier. 

Following our regular annual practice, seasonal adjustment 

factors for the household survey data have been updated with the 

release of December data. Seasonally adjusted estimates going 

back 5 years--to January 2015--were subject to revision. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 145,000 in 

December, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.5 percent.