The Employment Situation: January 2005 — 2005-02-04

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 146,000 in January and the unem- ployment rate decreased to 5.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job growth continued in several ser- vice-providing industries, while manufacturing employment declined over the month. Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.7 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.2 percent, declined in January. The jobless rate was down from 5.7 percent a year earlier. Over the month, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.7 percent), whites (4.4 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.1 percent) edged down, while the rates for adult women (4.6 percent), teenagers (16.3 percent), and blacks or African Americans (10.6 percent) showed little change. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.) The number of long-term unemployed--those unemployed 27 weeks and over--was about unchanged over the month. This group accounted for 20.9 percent of the unemployed.