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 

Erica L. Groshen 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, February 5, 2016

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in January, and 

the unemployment rate, at 4.9 percent, changed little. Job 

growth occurred in several industries, including retail trade, 

food services and drinking places, health care, and 

manufacturing. Employment declined in private educational 

services, transportation and warehousing, and mining. 

After incorporating revisions that decreased total nonfarm 

employment by 2,000, on net, for November and December combined 

(including the impact of the annual benchmark process), monthly 

job gains have averaged 231,000 over the past 3 months. In 2015, 

employment growth averaged 228,000 per month. 

Retail trade added 58,000 jobs in January, following 

essentially no change in December (-1,000). In January, there 

were job gains in general merchandise stores (+15,000), 

electronics and appliance stores (+9,000), motor vehicle and 
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parts dealers (+8,000), and furniture and home furnishings 

stores (+7,000). Employment in retail trade has increased by 

301,000 over the past 12 months, with motor vehicle and parts 

dealers and general merchandise stores accounting for nearly 

half of the gain. 

Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 

47,000 in January. Over the past 12 months, the industry has 

added 384,000 jobs. 

Employment in health care increased by 37,000 in January, 

led by a gain of 24,000 in hospitals. Hospitals have added 

258,000 jobs since a recent low in January 2014, with nearly 

three-fourths of the gain occurring in the last year. 

Employment in manufacturing rose by 29,000 in January, 

following little change in 2015. Job gains occurred in food 

manufacturing (+11,000), fabricated metal products (+7,000), and 

furniture and related products (+3,000). 

The financial activities industry added 18,000 jobs in 

January. Within the industry, employment in credit 

intermediation and related activities increased by 7,000. Over 

the year, financial activities added 149,000 jobs. 

Employment in professional and business services changed 

little in January (+9,000), after increasing by 60,000 in 

December. Within the industry, professional and technical 

services added 25,000 jobs over the month, in line with recent 
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job growth. Employment in temporary help services edged lower in 

January (-25,000), after edging up by the same amount in 

December. 

Private educational services lost 39,000 jobs in January, 

as seasonal layoffs were larger than usual. 

Employment in transportation and warehousing decreased by 

20,000 in January. Most of the job loss occurred among couriers 

and messengers (-14,000), reflecting larger than usual layoffs 

following strong seasonal hiring in the prior 2 months. 

Mining employment continued to decline in January (-7,000). 

Since a recent peak in September 2014, employment in the 

industry has decreased by 146,000, or 17 percent. About threefourths of the job losses over this period have been in support 

activities for mining. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls rose by 12 cents in January to $25.39. Over the past 12 

months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent. From 

December 2014 to December 2015, the Consumer Price Index for all 

Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was up by 0.7 percentage point (on a 

seasonally adjusted basis). 

Turning now to data from the household survey, both the 

unemployment rate, at 4.9 percent in January, and the number of 

unemployed persons, at 7.8 million, changed little over the 

month. These measures were down by 0.8 percentage point and 1.1 
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million, respectively, over the year. Among the unemployed, 2.1 

million, or 26.9 percent, had been unemployed for 27 weeks or 

more. 

The labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, was 

little changed over the month. The employment-population ratio, 

at 59.6 percent, also changed little in January, but was up by 

0.3 percentage point since October. 

Among the employed, the number working part time for 

economic reasons, also referred to as involuntary part-time 

workers, was little changed in January at 6.0 million. The 

number of these workers was down by 796,000 over the past year. 

(Involuntary part-time workers are those who would have 

preferred full-time employment but were working part time 

because their hours had been cut back or because they were 

unable to find full-time work.) 

Among people who were neither working nor looking for work 

in January, 2.1 million were classified as marginally attached 

to the labor force, little different from a year earlier. The 

number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally 

attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, was 

623,000 in January, also little changed from a year earlier. 

(The marginally attached are individuals who had not looked for 

work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, were 
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available for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 

months.) 

Following our usual practice, there were routine annual 

adjustments to the data from our two surveys. The establishment 

survey data released today reflect the incorporation of annual 

benchmark revisions. Each year, we re-anchor our sample-based 

survey estimates to full universe counts of employment, 

primarily derived from the Quarterly Census of Employment and 

Wages, which enumerates jobs covered by the unemployment 

insurance tax system. The effect of these revisions on the 

underlying trend in nonfarm payroll employment was minor. 

(Additional information about the benchmark revision and its 

impact is contained in our news release and on our website at 

www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm.) 

Household survey data for January reflect updated 

population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Again this 

year, the impact of the new controls on the unemployment rate 

and other ratios was negligible. (Further information can be 

found in our news release and on our website at 

www.bls.gov/cps/population-control-adjustments-2016.pdf.) 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in 

January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.9 

percent.