Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2013-01-04

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 increased by 155,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.8 percent. In 2012, job gains averaged 153,000 per month, the same as in 2011. In December, employment rose in health care, food services and drinking places, construction, and manufacturing. Health care employment increased by 45,000 over the month, with gains in ambulatory health care services (+23,000), in hospitals (+12,000), and in nursing and residential care facilities (+10,000). Health care added 338,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 38,000 in December. In 2012, the industry added an average of 24,000 jobs per month, essentially the same as in 2011.