Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2018-02-02

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 rose by 200,000 in January, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent. Employment continued to trend up in construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing. In 2017, employment growth averaged 181,000 per month. Incorporating revisions for November and December, which decreased nonfarm payroll employment by 24,000 on net, monthly job gains have averaged 192,000 over the past 3 months. Construction employment rose by 36,000 in January, with most of the increase occurring among specialty trade contractors (+26,000). The construction sector has added 226,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up over the month (+31,000). The industry has added 255,000 jobs over the past 12 months.