Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, February 4, 2022.

Statement of 

William W. Beach 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, February 4, 2022

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 467,000 in January, 

and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0 percent.

Employment growth continued in leisure and hospitality, in 

professional and business services, in retail trade, and in 

transportation and warehousing. 

Employment has increased by 19.1 million since April 2020 

but is down by 2.9 million, or 1.9 percent, from its level 

before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 

February 2020. Monthly job growth averaged 555,000 in 2021.

Leisure and hospitality continued adding jobs in January 

(+151,000). Employment in the industry grew by 2.4 million over 

the year but is down by 1.8 million, or 10.3 percent, from its 

February 2020 level. Within the industry, food services and 

drinking places (+108,000) and accommodation (+23,000) added

jobs in January.
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Professional and business services employment continued to 

grow in January (+86,000). Over the month, job growth occurred 

in management and technical consulting services (+16,000), 

computer systems design and related services (+15,000), 

architectural and engineering services (+8,000), and other 

professional and technical services (+7,000). Employment 

continued trending up in temporary help services (+26,000). 

Employment in professional and business services is 511,000 

higher than in February 2020, largely in temporary help services 

(+185,000), computer systems design and related services 

(+161,000), and management and technical consulting services 

(+151,000). 

In January, retail trade continued adding jobs (+61,000). 

Over the month, employment increased in general merchandise 

stores (+29,000); health and personal care stores (+11,000);

sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (+7,000); and 

building material and garden supply stores (+6,000). Retail 

trade employment is 61,000 higher than in February 2020. 

Job growth continued in transportation and warehousing in 

January (+54,000). Employment grew in couriers and messengers 

(+21,000), warehousing and storage (+13,000), truck 

transportation (+8,000), and air transportation (+7,000). 

Employment in transportation and warehousing is 542,000 above 

its February 2020 level, with particularly strong growth in 
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warehousing and storage (+410,000) and couriers and messengers 

(+236,000).

In January, employment rose by 29,000 in local government 

education, while state government education was essentially 

unchanged (-1,000). Private education employment continued to 

trend up over the month (+13,000). Since February 2020, 

employment is down by 359,000 in local government education, by 

87,000 in private education, and by 31,000 in state government 

education.

Health care employment continued trending up in January 

(+18,000). Over the year, health care employment has increased 

by 175,000 but is 378,000 below its February 2020 level. 

Employment in wholesale trade grew by 16,000 in January, 

with gains in both durable goods (+11,000) and nondurable goods 

(+8,000). Over the year, employment in the industry has 

increased by 156,000 but is 125,000 below its February 2020 

level. 

Employment showed little change over the month in other 

major industries, including mining, construction, manufacturing, 

information, financial activities, and other services.

In January, the average workweek for all private-sector 

workers fell by 0.2 hour to 34.5 hours. The average workweek for 

manufacturing edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.2 hours. 
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Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 23 cents to $31.63 in January. Over the 

past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.7 

percent. 

Following our usual practice, the establishment survey data 

released today reflect the incorporation of annual benchmark 

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

survey estimates to full universe counts of employment, 

primarily derived from the Quarterly Census of Employment and 

Wages, which counts jobs covered by the unemployment insurance 

tax system. Payroll employment for March 2021 was revised upward

by 374,000. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, total nonfarm 

employment for March 2021 was revised downward by 7,000, or less 

than -0.05 percent. Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute 

average benchmark revision over the past 10 years is 0.1 

percent. 

Also, in accordance with usual practice, we updated

seasonal adjustment models and revised the latest 5 years of 

data (back to January 2017). These models remove normal seasonal 

fluctuations--such as regular employment changes due to major 

holidays--from our data series, making it easier to observe 

cyclical and other economic trends. Now that we have more 

monthly observations related to the historically large job 

losses and gains seen in the pandemic-driven recession and 
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recovery, the models can better distinguish normal seasonal 

movements from underlying trends. As a result, some large 

revisions to seasonally adjusted data occurred with our updated 

models; however, these monthly changes mostly offset each other.

For example, the over-the-month change in employment for

November and December 2021 combined is 709,000 higher than 

previously reported, while the over-the-month change in 

employment for June and July 2021 combined is 807,000 lower. 

Overall, the 2021 over-the-year change is 217,000 higher than 

previously reported. Going forward, the updated models should

produce more reliable estimates of seasonal movements.

(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.) 

Before we turn to data from the household survey, it should 

be noted that the household data for January reflect updated 

population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, as is our 

annual practice. The change in population reflected in the new 

estimates results from the introduction of a blended 2020 

population base, which combines population totals from the 2020 

Census and demographic characteristics from other sources. It 

also reflects adjustments for net international migration, 

updated vital statistics, and estimation methodology 

improvements. The impact of the new controls on the unemployment 
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rate is negligible. However, the labor force participation rate 

and the employment-population ratio increased due to changes in 

the composition of the population. (Further information can be 

found in our news release and on our website at 

www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cps-pop-control-adjustments.pdf.) 

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, both the unemployment rate, at 4.0 percent, and the 

number of unemployed people, at 6.5 million, were little changed 

in January. Over the year, the unemployment rate is down by 2.4

percentage points, and the number of unemployed people is down 

by 3.7 million. Both measures have fallen from their recent 

peaks in April 2020 but remain above their February 2020 levels 

(3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively). 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for 

adult men (3.8 percent) and Whites (3.4 percent) edged up in 

January. The jobless rates for adult women (3.6 percent),

teenagers (10.9 percent), Blacks (6.9 percent), Asians (3.6 

percent), and Hispanics (4.9 percent) showed little or no 

change. 

Among the unemployed, the number of job leavers increased 

to 952,000 in January, following a decrease in the prior month. 

The number of people on temporary layoff, at 959,000 in January, 

also rose over the month but is down by 1.8 million over the 

year. The number of permanent job losers, at 1.6 million, was 
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little changed in January. This measure is down by 1.9 million 

from a year earlier but is above its February 2020 level of 1.3 

million. 

In January, the number of people jobless less than 5 weeks 

increased to 2.4 million and accounted for 37.0 percent of the 

total unemployed. The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks 

or more (often referred to as the long-term unemployed) declined 

to 1.7 million in January. This measure is down from 4.0 million 

a year earlier but is 570,000 above its February 2020 level. In 

January, the long-term unemployed accounted for 25.9 percent of 

the unemployed.

After accounting for the annual adjustments to the 

population controls, the labor force participation rate held at

62.2 percent in January, and the employment-population ratio, at 

59.7 percent, was little changed. Both measures are up over the 

year but remain below their February 2020 levels (63.4 percent 

and 61.2 percent, respectively). 

In January, the number of people working part time for 

economic reasons, at 3.7 million, continued to trend down. This 

measure has fallen by 2.2 million over the year and is 673,000 

lower than in February 2020. 

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job, at 5.7 million, changed little in January but is 
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down by 1.3 million over the year. This measure remains above 

its February 2020 level of 5.0 million. 

Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a 

job, 1.5 million were marginally attached to the labor force in 

January, also little changed over the month. (People who are 

marginally attached to the labor force had not actively 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.) The number of discouraged workers, a subset of 

the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available 

for them, was little changed at 408,000 in January.

Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 

household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because 

of the pandemic increased to 15.4 percent in January. These data 

refer only to employed people who teleworked or worked from home 

for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because 

of the pandemic; they do not include all instances of telework. 

In January, the number of people who reported that they had 

been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 

business due to the pandemic rose to 6.0 million. (These 

individuals did not work at all or worked fewer hours at some 

point in the last 4 weeks due to the pandemic.)
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Among those who reported in January that they were unable 

to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost business, 

23.7 percent received at least some pay from their employer for 

the hours not worked, up from the prior month. 

Among those not in the labor force in January, 1.8 million

people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, 

up from December. (To be counted as unemployed, by definition, 

individuals must either be actively searching for work or on 

temporary layoff.) 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 467,000 

in January, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.0 

percent.