Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2016-02-05

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. 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).