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

Philip L. Rones

Acting Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, February 2, 2007

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 111,000 in 

January, and the unemployment rate was essentially 

unchanged at 4.6 percent. Payroll employment rose by 

196,000 in November and by 206,000 in December (as 

revised). In January, job growth continued in several 

service-providing industries. In addition, construction 

employment rose over the month, while the number of 

manufacturing jobs continued to decline. 

Employment in health care increased by 18,000 in 

January, following a relatively large increase in December 

(43,000). Employment continued to trend up over the month 

in hospitals, ambulatory health care, and nursing and 

residential care facilities. Over the year, health care 

employment rose by 328,000.
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Food services continued to add jobs in January, with 

gains of 21,000 over the month and 347,000 over the year. 

In January, employment in professional and business 

services continued to expand, led by a gain of 9,000 in 

architectural and engineering services. 

Construction employment increased by 22,000 in 

January; job gains occurred in the nonresidential 

components and in heavy construction. Employment in 

construction was up by 100,000 over the year, as gains in 

nonresidential and in heavy construction more than offset 

losses in residential specialty trades construction. 

Manufacturing employment declined by 16,000 in January 

and by 110,000 over the year. Over the month, there were 

job losses in motor vehicles and parts, computer and 

electronic products, furniture, and textile mills. 

Employee buyouts and larger-than-usual seasonal plant 

shutdowns contributed to the large job decline in motor 

vehicles. An employment gain in plastics and rubber 

products reflected the return of workers from a strike. 

The factory workweek fell by 0.2 hour to 40.8 hours, and 

overtime declined by 0.1 hour to 4.1 hours. Since peaking 

in July, the manufacturing workweek has declined by 0.7 

hour.
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Average hourly earnings for private production and 

nonsupervisory workers increased by 3 cents in January to 

$17.09, a gain of 0.2 percent. Over the year, average 

hourly earnings rose by 4.0 percent.

The establishment survey data released today reflect 

the incorporation of annual benchmark revisions and updated 

seasonal adjustment factors. Each year, we anchor our 

sample-based survey estimates to full universe counts of 

employment, primarily derived from administrative records 

of the unemployment insurance tax system. In addition, the 

seasonally adjusted establishment survey data from January 

2002 forward have been revised to incorporate updated 

seasonal adjustment factors. 

The benchmark revision increased the level of nonfarm 

payroll employment in March 2006 by 752,000 (not seasonally 

adjusted) or about 0.6 percent. The average benchmark 

revision over the prior 10-year period was plus or minus 

0.2 percent. We conducted extensive research into 

potential sources for this larger-than-normal benchmark 

revision for March 2006 and concluded there was no reason 

to deviate from our usual benchmarking process. We 

continue to research possible improvements to both the 

monthly payroll survey and the administrative data. 
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A summary of our research efforts can be found at 

http://www.bls.gov/web/cesbmart.htm. 

Turning to the household survey data, both the 

unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were 

essentially unchanged in January, at 4.6 percent and 7.0 

million, respectively. The labor force participation rate 

and the employment-population ratio also were little 

changed over the month, as were most other key measures 

from the household survey. 

Household survey data beginning in January 2007 

reflect updated population controls. As part of its annual 

review of intercensal population estimates, the U.S. Census 

Bureau determined that an upward adjustment should be made 

to the population controls. This adjustment stems largely 

from revised estimates of net international migration. The 

updated controls would have resulted in an increase of 

321,000 in the estimated size of the civilian 

noninstitutional population age 16 years and over for 

December 2006. In accordance with our usual practice, 

official estimates for December 2006 and earlier months

will not be revised.

A comparison of December 2006 not seasonally adjusted 

data based on the old and new controls shows that the 

population adjustments caused increases in the labor force 
5

(163,000), employment (153,000), and unemployment (10,000). 

The unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and 

employment-population ratio, however, were not affected.

In summary, payroll employment rose by 111,000 in 

January, and the unemployment rate was essentially 

unchanged at 4.6 percent.