December '05 US Employment Situation
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: DECEMBER 2005
Complete December 05 Employment Situation Release PDF
Highlights:
In December, manufacturing employment increased by 18,000, after edging
up in November. Most of December’s increase occurred in durable goods, which
added 15,000 jobs. Employment rose in several of the component industries,
including wood products and computer and electronic products.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 108,000 in December, and
the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.9 percent, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The December in-
crease in payroll employment followed a gain of 305,000 in November (as re-
vised). Several industries added jobs over the month, including food serv-
ices, professional and business services, health care, and manufacturing.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
Both the unemployment rate, 4.9 percent, and the number of unemployed per-
sons, 7.4 million, were little changed in December. The unemployment rate
has ranged from 4.9 to 5.1 percent since March.
The unemployment rates for adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.5 per-
cent), whites (4.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.0 percent) showed
little or no change in December. The jobless rates for teenagers (15.2 per-
cent) and blacks (9.3 percent) declined over the month; the rate for black
teenagers had an unusual large decline and fell to 24.4 percent. The unem-
ployment rate for Asians was 3.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See
tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
In December, 18.2 percent of the unemployed had been without a job for 27
weeks or longer, compared with 20.4 percent a year earlier. (See table A-9.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data |
| |
| Seasonally adjusted household survey data have been revised using |
| updated seasonal adjustment factors that incorporate 2005 data. Sea- |
| sonally adjusted estimates back to January 2001 were subject to re- |
| vision. The unemployment rates for January-December 2005 (as origin- |
| ally published and as revised) appear on page 6, along with additional |
| information about the revisions. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table Removed, Refer to December '05 US Employment Situation Release
- 3 -
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment, at 142.8 million in December, was little changed over
the month but was 2.6 million higher than a year earlier. The employment-
population ratio held at 62.8 percent in December, 0.4 percentage point high-
er than a year earlier. The labor force participation rate, at 66.0 percent,
was unchanged over the year. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons who work part time for economic reasons, at 4.1 mil-
lion, was about unchanged in December but was down by 327,000 over the year.
This category includes persons who indicated that they would like to work full
time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or be-
cause they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
The number of persons marginally attached to the labor force was 1.6 mil-
lion in December, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally
adjusted.) These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked
for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemploy-
ed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks pre-
ceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 451,000 dis-
couraged workers in December, essentially the same as a year earlier. Dis-
couraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because
they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million margin-
ally attached persons had not searched for work for reasons such as school
attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)
Employment Status of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees (Household Survey Data)
Beginning in October, questions were added to the household survey to
identify persons who evacuated from their homes, even temporarily, due to
Hurricane Katrina. Data collected through these questions do not account
for all evacuees; persons living outside of the scope of the survey--such
as those living in hotels or shelters--are not included. The questions were
asked of persons in the household survey sample throughout the country, since
some evacuees relocated far from the storm-affected areas. An additional
question determined whether evacuees had returned to their homes by the time
of the survey.
These additional questions provided information to analyze the employment
status of this subgroup of evacuees. The total number of evacuees estimated
from the household survey may change from month to month as people move in
and out of the scope of the survey.
Information gathered in December showed that about 1.1 million persons age
16 and over had evacuated from where they were living in August due to Hur-
ricane Katrina. These evacuees either had returned to their homes or were
living in other residential units covered in the survey in December. About
600,000 of the evacuees had returned to their August 2005 residences. Of all
evacuees identified, 58.2 percent were in the labor force in December. The em-
ploymentpopulation ratio for these evacuees was 51.0 percent. The unemploy-
ment rate for persons identified as evacuees was 12.4 percent; it was much
higher for evacuees who had not returned home (20.7 percent) than for those
who had returned (5.6 percent). (See table B.)
- 4 -
Table B. Employment status in December 2005 of persons 16 years and
over who evacuated from their August residence, even temporarily, due
to Hurricane Katrina (1)
(Numbers in thousands, not seasonally adjusted)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| | Residence in December
| |-------------------------
Employment status in December 2005 | Total | Same as | Different than
| |in August| in August
-------------------------------------------------------|---------------
Civilian noninstitutional population.| 1,105 | 605 | 500
Civilian labor force...............| 643 | 353 | 290
Participation rate.......... | 58.2 | 58.4 | 58.0
Employed........................| 563 | 333 | 230
Employment-population ratio..| 51.0 | 55.1 | 46.0
Unemployed......................| 80 | 20 | 60
Unemployment rate............| 12.4 | 5.6 | 20.7
Not in labor force.................| 462 | 252 | 210
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Represents persons in the civilian noninstitutional population
age 16 and over who resided in households that were eligible to be
selected for the Current Population Survey (CPS). These data are not
representative of the total evacuee population because they do not in-
clude children or people residing in shelters, hotels, places of worship,
or other units outside the scope of the CPS. The total number of evac-
uees estimated from the CPS may change from month to month as people
move in and out of the scope of the survey and because of sampling varia-
bility.
NOTE: These data use population controls that have been adjusted to
account for interstate moves by evacuees.
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 108,000 in December to 134.5
million, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed a gain of 305,000 in
November (as revised). Over the year, payroll employment grew by 2.0 mil-
lion. December's increase included gains in manufacturing, health care,
food services and drinking places, and professional and business services.
(See table B-1.)
In December, manufacturing employment increased by 18,000, after edging
up in November. Most of December’s increase occurred in durable goods, which
added 15,000 jobs. Employment rose in several of the component industries,
including wood products and computer and electronic products.
Over the month, employment in construction was little changed, following
strong growth in November. Over the year, the construction industry added
246,000 jobs. Employment growth in residential building and residential
specialty trade contractors accounted for about two-thirds of the over-the-
year gain. Mining employment continued to trend up in December. Over the
year, this industry added 48,000 jobs, with most of the growth occurring in
support activities for mining, particularly oil and gas.
Within the service-providing sector, employment in health care grew by
21,000 in December. Both ambulatory care services (which includes doctors'
offices and outpatient clinics) and hospitals continued to add jobs in
December. Employment in the health care industry expanded by 271,000 in
2005.
- 5 -
In leisure and hospitality, food services and drinking places added 36,000
jobs in December. Despite faltering in September and October, employment
growth in the industry averaged 18,000 per month in 2005. Professional and
business services employment continued to trend up in December and increased
by 486,000 over the year. Financial activities also continued to add jobs
over the month and posted an over-the-year gain of 188,000. Much of the over-
the-year increase occurred in credit intermediation and real estate.
Retail trade employment was little changed over the month. Employment was
down in general merchandise stores, as seasonal hiring was less than usual;
employment in the industry has been trending down since July. Building ma-
terial and garden supply stores continued to add jobs in December. Over the
month, employment in the transportation and warehousing industry fell; employ-
ment of couriers and messengers declined by 6,000, and air transportation con-
tinued to lose jobs (-5,000).
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours in December, seasonally
adjusted. The manufacturing workweek fell by 0.1 hour to 40.7 hours, and
factory overtime was unchanged at 4.5 hours. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory work-
ers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.2 percent in December to 103.4
(2002=100). The manufacturing index was down by 0.1 percent over the month
to 94.9. (See table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on pri-
vate nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in December to $16.34, seasonal-
ly adjusted. Average weekly earnings were little changed over the month at
$550.66. Over the year, both average hourly and weekly earnings increased
by 3.1 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________
The Employment Situation for January 2006 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, February 3, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Revisions in the Establishment Survey Data |
| |
| With the release of January data on February 3, BLS will introduce |
| revisions to the nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and earnings data |
| to reflect the annual benchmark adjustments for March 2005 and updated |
| seasonal adjustment factors. Unadjusted data since April 2004 and |
| seasonally adjusted data since January 2001 are subject to revision. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Planned Changes in the Household Survey Data |
| |
| Effective with the release of data for January 2006, revisions will |
| be introduced into the population controls for the household survey. |
| These changes reflect the routine annual updating of intercensal pop- |
| ulation estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, new season- |
| ally adjusted employment data for multiple jobholders will be added to |
| table A-6 of this release. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 6 -
Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data
At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal ad-
justment factors for the labor force series derived from the Current Popula-
tion Survey (CPS), or household survey, to incorporate the data for that year.
This year, seasonally adjusted data for January 2001-December 2005 were sub-
ject to revision. (Seasonally adjusted establishment data will be revised
next month, concurrent with the introduction of annual benchmark adjustments.)
Table C summarizes the effects of the revisions on the overall unemploy-
ment rate since January 2005. Largely due to rounding, the rate was revised
in 3 months, in each case by 0.1 percentage point. Revised seasonally ad
justed data for major labor force series beginning in December 2004 appear
in table D.
The January 2006 issue of Employment and Earnings will contain an article
describing the current seasonal adjustment methodology for the household sur-
vey data and revised data for the most recent months or quarters for all regu-
larly published tables containing seasonally adjusted household survey data.
A copy of the article will be available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsrs2006.pdf
on the Internet. Historical data for the household series contained in the
"A" tables of this release also can be accessed at http://www.bls.gov/cps/
cpsatabs.htm on the BLS Internet site. Revised historical seasonally adjusted
monthly and quarterly data for additional series are available on the Internet
at ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/.
Table C. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates and changes
due to revision, January-December 2005
---------------------------------------------------------------
| | |
Month and year | As first | As | Change
| published | revised |
| | |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| | |
2005 | | |
| | |
January..............| 5.2 | 5.2 | 0.0
February.............| 5.4 | 5.4 | .0
March................| 5.2 | 5.1 | -.1
April................| 5.2 | 5.1 | -.1
May..................| 5.1 | 5.1 | .0
June.................| 5.0 | 5.0 | .0
July.................| 5.0 | 5.0 | .0
August...............| 4.9 | 4.9 | .0
September............| 5.1 | 5.1 | .0
October..............| 5.0 | 4.9 | -.1
November.............| 5.0 | 5.0 | .0
December.............| 4.9 | (1) | (1)
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 Because of the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment, there
is no revised estimate for December.
No comments so far