Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until                 USDL-17-0004
8:30 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 6, 2017

Technical information:
 Household data:       (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  https://www.bls.gov/cps
 Establishment data:   (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov  *  https://www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:         (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                         THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- DECEMBER 2016


Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000 in December, and the unemployment rate
was little changed at 4.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Job growth occurred in health care and social assistance.

  __________________________________________________________________________________
 |                                                                                  |
 |                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 2012 were subject to revision. The unemployment|
 |rates for January 2016 through November 2016 (as originally published and as      |
 |revised) appear in table A, along with additional information about the revisions.|
 |__________________________________________________________________________________|


Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate, at 4.7 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 7.5
million, changed little in December. However, both measures edged down in the fourth
quarter, after showing little net change earlier in the year. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.4 percent), adult
women (4.3 percent), teenagers (14.7 percent), Whites (4.3 percent), Blacks (7.8 percent),
Asians (2.6 percent), and Hispanics (5.9 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) was essentially
unchanged at 1.8 million in December and accounted for 24.2 percent of the unemployed. In
2016, the number of long-term unemployed declined by 263,000. (See table A-12.)

The labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, changed little in December and was
unchanged over the year. In December, the employment-population ratio was 59.7 percent
for the third consecutive month; this measure showed little change, on net, in 2016.
(See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (also referred to as
involuntary part-time workers), at 5.6 million, was essentially unchanged in December
but was down by 459,000 over the year. These individuals, who would have preferred
full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or
because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

In December, 1.7 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little
changed from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals
were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a
job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 426,000 discouraged workers in December, down
by 237,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged
workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are
available to them. The remaining 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor
force in December had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or
family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000 in December, with an increase in health
care and social assistance. Job growth totaled 2.2 million in 2016, less than the increase
of 2.7 million in 2015. (See table B-1.)

Employment in health care rose by 43,000 in December, with most of the increase occurring
in ambulatory health care services (+30,000) and hospitals (+11,000). Health care added
an average of 35,000 jobs per month in 2016, roughly in line with the average monthly
gain of 39,000 in 2015.

Social assistance added 20,000 jobs in December, reflecting job growth in individual and
family services (+21,000). In 2016, social assistance added 92,000 jobs, down from an
increase of 162,000 in 2015. 

Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in December (+30,000).
This industry added 247,000 jobs in 2016, fewer than the 359,000 jobs gained in 2015.

Employment also continued to trend up in transportation and warehousing in December
(+15,000). Within the industry, employment expanded by 12,000 in couriers and messengers.
In 2016, transportation and warehousing added 62,000 jobs, down from a gain of 110,000
jobs in 2015.

Employment in financial activities continued on an upward trend in December (+13,000).
This is in line with the average monthly gains for the industry over the past 2 years.

In December, employment edged up in manufacturing (+17,000), with a gain of 15,000 in the
durable goods component. However, since reaching a recent peak in January, manufacturing
employment has declined by 63,000.

Employment in professional and business services was little changed in December (+15,000),
following an increase of 65,000 in November. The industry added 522,000 jobs in 2016.

Employment in other major industries, including mining, construction, wholesale trade,
retail trade, information, and government, changed little in December.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.3
hours in December. In manufacturing, the workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 40.7 hours,
and overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 3.3 hours. The average workweek for production and
nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.6 hours. (See
tables B-2 and B-7.)

In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls
increased by 10 cents to $26.00, after edging down by 2 cents in November. Over the
year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.9 percent. In December, average hourly
earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 7 cents
to $21.80. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised down from +142,000
to +135,000, and the change for November was revised up from +178,000 to +204,000. With
these revisions, employment gains in October and November were 19,000 higher than
previously reported. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 165,000 per month.

_____________
The Employment Situation for January is scheduled to be released on Friday,
February 3, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).


  ______________________________________________________________________________________
 |                                                                                      |
 |                    Upcoming Changes to the Establishment Survey Data                 |
 |                                                                                      |
 |Effective with the release of January 2017 data on February 3, 2017, the Current      |
 |Employment Statistics (CES) program will begin using an improved methodology to select|
 |models for annual seasonal adjustment processing. See                                 |
 |https://www.bls.gov/ces/cestramo.htm for more information.                            |
 |______________________________________________________________________________________|


  _______________________________________________________________________________________
 |                                                                                      |
 |                            Revision of Establishment Survey Data                     |
 |                                                                                      |
 |Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January 2017 on February 3,|
 |2017, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey will introduce revisions to non- |
 |farm payroll employment, hours, and earnings data to reflect the annual benchmark     |
 |adjustment for March 2016 and updated seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally     |
 |adjusted data beginning with April 2015 and seasonally adjusted data beginning with   |
 |January 2012 are subject to revision. Consistent with standard practice, some         |
 |historical data may be subject to minor revisions resulting from issues identified    |
 |during the benchmark process.                                                         |
 |______________________________________________________________________________________|


  ______________________________________________________________________________________
 |                                                                                      |
 |                           Upcoming Changes to the Household Survey                   |
 |                                                                                      |
 |Effective with the release of The Employment Situation for January 2017 on February 3,|
 |2017, new population controls will be used in the Current Population Survey (CPS)     |
 |estimation process. These new controls reflect the annual updating of intercensal     |
 |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 2017 will not be directly comparable with data for  |
 |December 2016 or earlier periods. A table showing the effects of the new controls on  |
 |the major labor force series will be included in the January 2017 release.            |
 |______________________________________________________________________________________|


                      Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal adjustment factors
for the labor force series derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), or household
survey. As a result of this process, seasonally adjusted data for January 2012 through
November 2016 were subject to revision.

Table A shows the unemployment rates for January 2016 through November 2016, as first
published and as revised. The rates changed by one-tenth of a percentage point in 2 of
the 11 months and were unchanged in the remaining 9 months. Revised seasonally adjusted
data for other major labor force series beginning in December 2015 appear in table B.

An article describing the seasonal adjustment methodology for the household survey
data and revised data for January 2016 through November 2016 is available at
https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cps-seas-adjustment-methodology.pdf.

Historical data for the household series contained in the A tables of this release can
be accessed at https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsatabs.htm. Revised historical seasonally
adjusted data are available at 
https://www.bls.gov/cps/data.htm and https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ln/.


Table A. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in 2016 and changes due to revision
January - November 2016

       Month              As first published         As revised            Change

January.............            4.9                      4.9                 0.0
February............            4.9                      4.9                  .0
March...............            5.0                      5.0                  .0
April...............            5.0                      5.0                  .0
May.................            4.7                      4.7                  .0
June................            4.9                      4.9                  .0
July................            4.9                      4.9                  .0
August..............            4.9                      4.9                  .0
September...........            5.0                      4.9                 -.1
October.............            4.9                      4.8                 -.1
November............            4.6                      4.6                  .0






HOUSEHOLD DATA
 Table B.  Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age, seasonally adjusted
[Numbers in thousands]




	
Employment status, sex, and age
	
2015
	
2016


	
Dec.
	
Jan.
	
Feb.
	
Mar.
	
Apr.
	
May
	
June
	
July
	
Aug.
	
Sept.
	
Oct.
	
Nov.
	
Dec.






	
TOTAL
				




	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)
	
251,936
	
252,397
	
252,577
	
252,768
	
252,969
	
253,174
	
253,397
	
253,620
	
253,854
	
254,091
	
254,321
	
254,540
	
254,742



	
Civilian labor force
	
157,957
	
158,362
	
158,888
	
159,278
	
158,938
	
158,510
	
158,889
	
159,295
	
159,508
	
159,830
	
159,643
	
159,456
	
159,640



	
Participation rate
	
62.7
	
62.7
	
62.9
	
63.0
	
62.8
	
62.6
	
62.7
	
62.8
	
62.8
	
62.9
	
62.8
	
62.6
	
62.7



	
Employed
	
150,030
	
150,533
	
151,043
	
151,301
	
151,028
	
151,058
	
151,090
	
151,546
	
151,655
	
151,926
	
151,902
	
152,048
	
152,111



	
Employment-population ratio
	
59.6
	
59.6
	
59.8
	
59.9
	
59.7
	
59.7
	
59.6
	
59.8
	
59.7
	
59.8
	
59.7
	
59.7
	
59.7



	
Unemployed
	
7,927
	
7,829
	
7,845
	
7,977
	
7,910
	
7,451
	
7,799
	
7,749
	
7,853
	
7,904
	
7,740
	
7,409
	
7,529



	
Unemployment rate
	
5.0
	
4.9
	
4.9
	
5.0
	
5.0
	
4.7
	
4.9
	
4.9
	
4.9
	
4.9
	
4.8
	
4.6
	
4.7



	



	
Men, 20 years and over
				




	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)
	
113,241
	
113,483
	
113,566
	
113,653
	
113,746
	
113,844
	
113,951
	
114,058
	
114,173
	
114,289
	
114,401
	
114,506
	
114,603



	
Civilian labor force
	
81,000
	
81,319
	
81,681
	
81,800
	
81,743
	
81,420
	
81,782
	
81,818
	
81,835
	
81,988
	
81,967
	
81,817
	
81,983



	
Participation rate
	
71.5
	
71.7
	
71.9
	
72.0
	
71.9
	
71.5
	
71.8
	
71.7
	
71.7
	
71.7
	
71.6
	
71.5
	
71.5



	
Employed
	
77,213
	
77,670
	
77,974
	
78,066
	
77,993
	
77,926
	
78,098
	
78,042
	
78,142
	
78,191
	
78,232
	
78,330
	
78,379



	
Employment-population ratio
	
68.2
	
68.4
	
68.7
	
68.7
	
68.6
	
68.4
	
68.5
	
68.4
	
68.4
	
68.4
	
68.4
	
68.4
	
68.4



	
Unemployed
	
3,787
	
3,648
	
3,707
	
3,734
	
3,750
	
3,493
	
3,684
	
3,775
	
3,693
	
3,798
	
3,735
	
3,486
	
3,605



	
Unemployment rate
	
4.7
	
4.5
	
4.5
	
4.6
	
4.6
	
4.3
	
4.5
	
4.6
	
4.5
	
4.6
	
4.6
	
4.3
	
4.4



	



	
Women, 20 years and over
				




	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)
	
122,071
	
122,263
	
122,345
	
122,433
	
122,524
	
122,622
	
122,728
	
122,835
	
122,949
	
123,066
	
123,179
	
123,285
	
123,383



	
Civilian labor force
	
71,109
	
71,205
	
71,289
	
71,617
	
71,316
	
71,226
	
71,310
	
71,588
	
71,674
	
71,856
	
71,784
	
71,737
	
71,831



	
Participation rate
	
58.3
	
58.2
	
58.3
	
58.5
	
58.2
	
58.1
	
58.1
	
58.3
	
58.3
	
58.4
	
58.3
	
58.2
	
58.2



	
Employed
	
67,920
	
67,959
	
68,071
	
68,303
	
68,099
	
68,218
	
68,116
	
68,534
	
68,452
	
68,702
	
68,698
	
68,712
	
68,760



	
Employment-population ratio
	
55.6
	
55.6
	
55.6
	
55.8
	
55.6
	
55.6
	
55.5
	
55.8
	
55.7
	
55.8
	
55.8
	
55.7
	
55.7



	
Unemployed
	
3,189
	
3,246
	
3,218
	
3,314
	
3,218
	
3,008
	
3,194
	
3,054
	
3,223
	
3,154
	
3,085
	
3,025
	
3,071



	
Unemployment rate
	
4.5
	
4.6
	
4.5
	
4.6
	
4.5
	
4.2
	
4.5
	
4.3
	
4.5
	
4.4
	
4.3
	
4.2
	
4.3



	



	
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
				




	
Civilian noninstitutional population(1)
	
16,624
	
16,651
	
16,666
	
16,682
	
16,699
	
16,708
	
16,718
	
16,728
	
16,732
	
16,737
	
16,741
	
16,749
	
16,756



	
Civilian labor force
	
5,848
	
5,838
	
5,918
	
5,861
	
5,879
	
5,864
	
5,798
	
5,889
	
5,999
	
5,987
	
5,892
	
5,903
	
5,826



	
Participation rate
	
35.2
	
35.1
	
35.5
	
35.1
	
35.2
	
35.1
	
34.7
	
35.2
	
35.9
	
35.8
	
35.2
	
35.2
	
34.8



	
Employed
	
4,898
	
4,904
	
4,997
	
4,931
	
4,936
	
4,914
	
4,877
	
4,969
	
5,062
	
5,034
	
4,972
	
5,006
	
4,972



	
Employment-population ratio
	
29.5
	
29.5
	
30.0
	
29.6
	
29.6
	
29.4
	
29.2
	
29.7
	
30.3
	
30.1
	
29.7
	
29.9
	
29.7



	
Unemployed
	
951
	
934
	
921
	
929
	
943
	
950
	
921
	
920
	
937
	
953
	
920
	
897
	
854



	
Unemployment rate
	
16.3
	
16.0
	
15.6
	
15.9
	
16.0
	
16.2
	
15.9
	
15.6
	
15.6
	
15.9
	
15.6
	
15.2
	
14.7







	

		Footnotes

		(1) The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.

	





	

		NOTE: Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.