The Employment Situation: December 1996 — 1997-01-10

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of payroll jobs rose by 262,000 over the month, with gains occurring among most of the major industry groups. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents in December, following a 9 cent rise in the prior month. Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.3 percent, were unchanged in December, although both figures showed modest improvement in 1996. December jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.4 percent), adult women (4.9 percent), teenagers (16.5 percent), whites (4.6 percent), blacks (10.5 percent), and Hispanics (7.7 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.) Total employment, at 127.9 million in December, was little changed from the November level, but has expanded by 2.8 million over the past year.