Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2015-01-09

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 252,000 in December, and the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 5.6 percent. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing. Incorporating revisions for October and November, which increased total nonfarm payroll employment by 50,000, monthly job increases have averaged 289,000 over the past 3 months. In 2014, job growth averaged 246,000 per month, compared with 194,000 per month in 2013. Professional and business services employment rose by 52,000 in December, including job gains in administrative and waste services (+35,000), computer systems design and related services (+9,000), and architectural and engineering services (+5,000). Employment in accounting and bookkeeping services declined (-14,000), offsetting an increase of the same amount in November.