Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2007-02-02

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 111,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.6 percent. Payroll employment rose by 196,000 in November and by 206,000 in December (as revised). In January, job growth continued in several service-providing industries. In addition, construction employment rose over the month, while the number of manufacturing jobs continued to decline. Employment in health care increased by 18,000 in January, following a relatively large increase in December (43,000). Employment continued to trend up over the month in hospitals, ambulatory health care, and nursing and residential care facilities. Over the year, health care employment rose by 328,000. Food services continued to add jobs in January, with gains of 21,000 over the month and 347,000 over the year.