Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000 in December, and the unemployment
rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 
Employment continued to trend up in government, health care, social assistance, and 
construction, while transportation and warehousing lost jobs. 

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey 
measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. 
The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. 
For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two 
surveys, see the Technical Note.

  _________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 |											   |
 |                  Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data		   |
 |											   |
 |  Seasonally adjusted household survey data have been revised using updated seasonal     |
 |  adjustment factors, a procedure done at the end of each calendar year. Seasonally      |
 |  adjusted estimates back to January 2019 were subject to revision. The unemployment     |
 |  rates for January 2023 through November 2023 (as originally published and as revised)  |
 |  appear in table A, along with additional information about the revisions.              |
 |_________________________________________________________________________________________|


Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate held at 3.7 percent in December, and the number of unemployed 
persons was essentially unchanged at 6.3 million. These measures are higher than a 
year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.5 percent and the number of unemployed 
persons was 5.7 million. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5 percent), 
adult women (3.3 percent), teenagers (11.9 percent), Whites (3.5 percent), Blacks 
(5.2 percent), Asians (3.1 percent), and Hispanics (5.0 percent) showed little change 
in December. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 1.2 million,
was little changed in December and over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted 
for 19.7 percent of all unemployed persons in December. (See table A-12.)

The labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio,
at 60.1 percent, both decreased by 0.3 percentage point in December. These measures 
showed little or no change over the year. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.2 million, changed 
little in December but was up by 333,000 over the year. These individuals, who would 
have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had 
been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)

The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job edged up to 5.7
million in December and was up by 514,000 over the year. These individuals were not
counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 
weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. (See table A-1.)

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally 
attached to the labor force changed little at 1.6 million in December but was up by 
306,000 over the year. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had 
looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 
4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the 
marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, at 346,000, 
was little changed in December and over the year. (See Summary table A.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000 in December. Employment 
continued to trend up in government, health care, social assistance, and construction,
while transportation and warehousing lost jobs. Payroll employment rose by 2.7 million 
in 2023 (an average monthly gain of 225,000), less than the increase of 4.8 million in
2022 (an average monthly gain of 399,000). (See table B-1.) 

Government employment increased by 52,000 in December. Employment continued to trend
up in local government (+37,000) and federal government (+7,000). Government added an
average of 56,000 jobs per month in 2023, more than double the average monthly gain of
23,000 in 2022. 

In December, health care added 38,000 jobs. Employment continued to trend up in 
ambulatory health care services (+19,000) and hospitals (+15,000). Job growth in health 
care averaged 55,000 per month in 2023, compared with the 2022 average monthly gain 
of 46,000. 

Employment in social assistance rose by 21,000 in December, mostly in individual and 
family services (+17,000). Social assistance employment rose by an average of 22,000 
per month in 2023, little different than the average increase of 19,000 per month 
in 2022. 

In December, construction employment continued to trend up (+17,000). Employment in 
nonresidential building construction increased by 8,000. Construction added an average 
of 16,000 jobs per month in 2023, little different than the 2022 average monthly gain 
of 22,000. 

Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 23,000 in December. Couriers 
and messengers lost 32,000 jobs, while air transportation added 4,000 jobs. Since 
reaching a peak in October 2022, employment in transportation and warehousing has 
decreased by 100,000. 

Employment in leisure and hospitality changed little in December (+40,000). The 
industry added an average of 39,000 jobs per month in 2023, less than half the 
average gain of 88,000 jobs per month in 2022. Employment in the industry is
below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 163,000, or 1.0 percent. 

Retail trade employment changed little in December (+17,000). Over the month, 
employment increased in warehouse clubs, supercenters, and other general merchandise 
retailers (+14,000); building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers 
(+8,000); and automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers (+4,000). These job
gains were partially offset by a job loss in department stores (-13,000). Retail 
trade employment has shown little change, on net, since recovering in early 2022 
from pandemic-related losses. 

In December, employment in professional and business services changed little (+13,000). 
Employment in professional, scientific, and technical services continued to trend up
(+25,000); this industry added an average of 22,000 jobs per month in 2023, about half 
the average monthly gain of 41,000 in 2022. In December, employment in temporary help 
services continued its downward trend (-33,000) and has fallen by 346,000 since reaching 
a peak in March 2022. Overall, employment in professional and business services changed 
little in 2023.

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including 
mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; 
information; financial activities; and other services.

In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls 
rose by 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $34.27. Over the past 12 months, average hourly 
earnings have increased by 4.1 percent. In December, average hourly earnings of
private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent,
to $29.42. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 
hour to 34.3 hours in December. In manufacturing, the average workweek was little changed 
at 39.8 hours, and overtime remained at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production 
and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 33.7 
hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised down by 45,000, 
from +150,000 to +105,000, and the change for November was revised down by 26,000, from 
+199,000 to +173,000. With these revisions, employment in October and November combined 
is 71,000 lower than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional 
reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published 
estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)

_____________
The Employment Situation for January is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 2, 
2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).


  _________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 |											   |
 |                      Upcoming Changes to Household Survey Data                          |
 |                                                                                         |
 |  Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January 2024 on February    |
 |  2, 2024, new population controls will be used in the household survey estimation       |
 |  process. These new controls reflect the annual update of population estimates by the   |
 |  U.S. Census Bureau. In accordance with usual practice, historical data will not be     |
 |  revised to incorporate the new controls. Consequently, household survey data for       |
 |  January 2024 will not be directly comparable with data for December 2023 or earlier    |
 |  periods. A table showing the effects of the new controls on the major labor force      |
 |  series will be included in The Employment Situation for January 2024.                  |
 |_________________________________________________________________________________________|
 
  _________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 |											   |
 |                      Upcoming Changes to Establishment Survey Data                      |
 |                                                                                         |
 |  Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January 2024 on February    |
 |  2, 2024, nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and earnings data from the establishment   |
 |  survey will be revised to reflect the annual benchmark process and updated seasonal    |
 |  adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2022 and         |
 |  seasonally adjusted data beginning with January 2019 are subject to revision.          |
 |  Consistent with standard practice, additional historical data may be revised as a      |
 |  result of the benchmark process.                                                       |
 |_________________________________________________________________________________________|
 
 
                     Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data
 
At the end of each calendar year, BLS updates the seasonal adjustment factors for the 
national labor force series derived from the household survey. As a result of this 
process, seasonally adjusted data for January 2019 through November 2023 were subject 
to revision. (Not seasonally adjusted data were not subject to revision.) 

Table A shows the unemployment rates for January 2023 through November 2023, as first
published and as revised. The rate changed by one-tenth of a percentage point in 1 of 
the 11 months and was unchanged in the remaining 10 months. Table B shows revised 
seasonally adjusted data for major labor force series back to December 2022. 

More information on this year’s revisions to seasonally adjusted household series is 
available at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cps-seas-adjustment-methodology.pdf. Detailed 
information on the seasonal adjustment methodology is found at 
www.bls.gov/cps/seasonal-adjustment-methodology.htm. 

Historical data for the household series contained in the A tables (A-1 through A-16) 
of this news release, including the revised seasonally adjusted data, can be accessed 
at www.bls.gov/cps/cpsatabs.htm. Additional revised historical seasonally adjusted data
are available at www.bls.gov/cps/data.htm and https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ln/.

Table A. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in 2023 and changes due to revision 
January - November 2023		

Month		      As First Published          As Revised          Change

January.............                 3.4	         3.4	         0.0
February............	             3.6	         3.6	         0.0
March...............	             3.5	         3.5	         0.0
April...............	             3.4	         3.4	         0.0
May.................	             3.7	         3.7	         0.0
June................	             3.6	         3.6	         0.0
July................	             3.5	         3.5	         0.0
August..............	             3.8	         3.8	         0.0
September...........	             3.8	         3.8	         0.0
October.............	             3.9	         3.8	        -0.1
November............	             3.7	         3.7	         0.0