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 J. Wiatrowski 

Acting Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, January 5, 2018

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in December, and 

the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent. Employment 

increased in health care, construction, and manufacturing. Job 

growth totaled 2.1 million in 2017, compared with a gain of 2.2 

million in 2016.

Incorporating revisions for October and November, which 

decreased nonfarm payroll employment by 9,000 on net, monthly 

job gains have averaged 204,000 over the past 3 months. 

In December, employment in health care increased by 31,000. 

Over the month, employment continued to trend up in ambulatory 

health care services (+15,000) and hospitals (+12,000). In 2017, 

health care added 300,000 jobs, less than the increase of 

379,000 jobs in 2016. 

Construction added 30,000 jobs in December. Specialty trade 

contractors accounted for most of the gain (+24,000).
2

Construction employment rose by 210,000 in 2017, compared with 

its 2016 gain of 155,000. 

Manufacturing added 25,000 jobs in December. Within the 

industry, employment grew in machinery (+6,000), fabricated 

metal products (+5,000), primary metals (+3,000), and 

semiconductors and electronic components (+2,000). In 2017, 

factory employment increased by 196,000, following little change 

in 2016. 

Employment in food services and drinking places changed 

little in December (+25,000). Over the year, the industry has 

added 249,000 jobs, about in line with a gain of 276,000 in 

2016.

Employment in professional and business services was little 

changed in December (+19,000). In 2017, this industry added 

527,000 jobs, in line with its 2016 gain.

Employment in retail trade was also little changed in 

December (-20,000). Within the industry, employment declined by 

27,000 in general merchandise stores. Employment in retail trade 

edged down in 2017 (-67,000), following a gain of 203,000 in 

2016. 

Employment in other major industries--mining, wholesale 

trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial 

activities, and government--changed little in December. 
3

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 9 cents in December to $26.63. Over the 

past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5

percent. From November 2016 to November 2017, the Consumer Price 

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 2.2 percent 

(on a seasonally adjusted basis). 

The major labor market indicators from the survey of 

households showed little or no change in December. The 

unemployment rate was 4.1 percent for the third month in a row,

following declines earlier in the year. The number of unemployed 

people, at 6.6 million, was essentially unchanged over the month 

but was down by 926,000 over the year. 

Among the unemployed in December, 1.5 million had been 

searching for work for 27 weeks or longer. These long-term 

unemployed accounted for 22.9 percent of the total unemployed. 

The labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, was 

unchanged over the month and over the year. The employmentpopulation ratio was unchanged at 60.1 percent in December but 

was up by 0.3 percentage point over the year.

The number of people working part time for economic 

reasons, also referred to as involuntary part-time workers, was 

essentially unchanged at 4.9 million in December. Over the past 

year, the number of involuntary part-time workers declined by 

639,000. 
4

Among those neither working nor looking for work in 

December, 1.6 million were marginally attached to the labor 

force, little different from a year earlier. Discouraged 

workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that 

no jobs were available for them, numbered 474,000 in December, 

also little changed 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.) 

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 2013--were subject to revision. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in 

December, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent.