Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2020-02-07

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 225,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.6 percent. Notable employment gains occurred in construction, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing. In 2019, job growth averaged 175,000 per month. Incorporating revisions for November and December, which increased payroll employment by 7,000, monthly job gains have averaged 211,000 over the past 3 months. Construction employment rose by 44,000 in January. Job gains were concentrated in specialty trade contractors, with increases about equally split between the residential (+18,000) and nonresidential (+17,000) components. In 2019, construction added an average of 12,000 jobs per month. Employment in health care increased by 36,000 in January, about in line with the average monthly gain in 2019 (+29,000).