Transmission of material in this release is embargoed                 USDL-12-0163
until 8:30 a.m. (EST) Friday, February 3, 2012

Technical information:
 Household data:     (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
 Establishment data: (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:       (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov

                THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JANUARY 2012

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the
unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread in the private
sector, with large employment gains in professional and business
services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government
employment changed little over the month.

   -----------------------------------------------------------------
  |                                                                 |
  |            Changes to The Employment Situation Data             |
  |                                                                 |
  |Establishment survey data have been revised as a result of the   |
  |annual benchmarking process and the updating of seasonal         |
  |adjustment factors. Also, household survey data for January 2012 |
  |reflect updated population estimates. See the notes at the end of|
  |the news release for more information about these changes.       |
  |                                                                 |
   ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point in January to
8.3 percent; the rate has fallen by 0.8 point since August. (See table
A-1.) The number of unemployed persons declined to 12.8 million in
January. (See the note and tables B and C for information about annual
population adjustments to the household survey estimates.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men
(7.7 percent) and blacks (13.6 percent) declined in January. The
unemployment rates for adult women (7.7 percent), teenagers (23.2
percent), whites (7.4 percent), and Hispanics (10.5 percent) were
little changed. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.7 percent, not
seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In January, the number of job losers and persons who completed
temporary jobs fell to 7.3 million. The number of long-term unemployed
(those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.5 million
and accounted for 42.9 percent of the unemployed. (See tables A-11 and
A-12.)

After accounting for the annual adjustments to the population
controls, the employment-population ratio (58.5 percent) rose in
January, while the civilian labor force participation rate held at
63.7 percent. (See table A-1. For additional information about the
effects of the population adjustments, see table C.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 8.2
million, changed little in January. These individuals were working
part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were
unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

In January, 2.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor
force, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not
seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force,
wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime
in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because
they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
(See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.1 million discouraged
workers in January, little different from a year earlier. (The data
are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not
currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available
for them. The remaining 1.7 million persons marginally attached to the
labor force in January had not searched for work in the 4 weeks
preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family
responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January. Private-
sector employment grew by 257,000, with the largest employment gains
in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and
manufacturing. Government employment was little changed over the
month. (See table B-1.)

Professional and business services continued to add jobs in January
(+70,000). About half of the increase occurred in employment services
(+33,000). Job gains also occurred in accounting and bookkeeping
(+13,000) and in architectural and engineering services (+7,000).

Over the month, employment in leisure and hospitality increased by
44,000, primarily in food services and drinking places (+33,000).
Since a recent low in February 2010, food services has added 487,000
jobs.

In January, health care employment continued to grow (+31,000). Within
the industry, hospitals and ambulatory care services each added 13,000
jobs.

Wholesale trade employment increased by 14,000 over the month. Since a
recent employment low in May 2010, wholesale trade has added 144,000
jobs.

Employment in retail trade continued to trend up in January. Job gains
in department stores (+19,000), health and personal care stores
(+7,000), and automobile dealers (+7,000) were partially offset by
losses in clothing and clothing accessory stores (-14,000). Since an
employment trough in December 2009, retail trade has added 390,000
jobs.

In January, employment in information declined by 13,000, including a
loss of 8,000 jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industry.

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing added 50,000 jobs. Nearly
all of the increase occurred in durable goods manufacturing, with job
growth in fabricated metal products (+11,000), machinery (+11,000),
and motor vehicles and parts (+8,000). Durable goods manufacturing has
added 418,000 jobs over the past 2 years.

Employment in construction increased by 21,000 in January, following a
gain of 31,000 in the previous month. Over the past 2 months,
nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 30,000 jobs.

Mining added 10,000 jobs in January, with most of the gain in support
activities for mining (+8,000). Since a recent low in October 2009,
mining employment has expanded by 172,000.

Government employment changed little in January. Over the past 12
months, the sector has lost 276,000 jobs, with declines in local
government; state government, excluding education; and the U.S. Postal
Service.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was
unchanged in January. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.3 hour
to 40.9 hours, and factory overtime increased by 0.1 hour to 3.4
hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory
employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 33.8
hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private
nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $23.29. Over the
past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 1.9 percent.
In January, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and
nonsupervisory employees edged up by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to
$19.62. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was
revised from +100,000 to +157,000, and the change for December was
revised from +200,000 to +203,000. Monthly revisions result from
additional sample reports and the monthly recalculation of seasonal
factors. The annual benchmark process also contributed to these
revisions.

____________
The Employment Situation for February is scheduled to be released on
Friday, March 9, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

   -----------------------------------------------------------------
  |                                                                 |
  |                 Changes to the Household Survey                 |
  |                                                                 |
  |Effective with the collection of household survey data for       |
  |January 2012, the questions on race and Hispanic or Latino       |
  |ethnicity were modified to incorporate minor wording changes.    |
  |                                                                 |
  |In January 2012, the Census Bureau, which conducts the household |
  |survey, began a year-long process of reorganizing its regional   |
  |office structure; for more information on these changes see      |
  |www.census.gov/newsroom/pdf/General_QAs_FINAL2.pdf. Both the     |
  |Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics will monitor    |
  |survey operations during the transition period. No impact on the |
  |employment and unemployment estimates from the survey is         |
  |anticipated from this organizational change.                     |
  |                                                                 |
   ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

                  Revisions to Establishment Survey Data

  In accordance with annual practice, the establishment survey data
  released today have been revised to reflect comprehensive counts of
  payroll jobs, or benchmarks. These counts are derived principally from
  unemployment insurance tax records for March 2011. In addition, the
  data were updated to the 2012 North American Industry Classification
  System (NAICS) from the 2007 NAICS. This update resulted in minor
  changes to several detailed industries. The benchmark process resulted
  in revisions to not seasonally adjusted data from April 2010 forward
  and to seasonally adjusted data from January 2007 forward. Some
  historical data predating the normal benchmark revision period also
  were revised due to the implementation of NAICS 2012 and other minor
  changes related to rounding and the recalculation of aggregate series.

  Table A presents revised total nonfarm employment data on a seasonally
  adjusted basis for January through December 2011. The revised data for
  April 2011 forward incorporate the effect of applying the rate of
  change measured by the sample to the new benchmark level, as well as
  updated net business birth/death model adjustments and new seasonal
  adjustment factors. The November and December 2011 data also reflect
  the routine incorporation of additional sample receipts into the
  November final and December second preliminary estimates. The total
  nonfarm employment level for March 2011 was revised upward by 165,000
  (162,000 on a not seasonally adjusted basis). The previously published
  level for December 2011 was revised upward by 266,000 (231,000 on a
  not seasonally adjusted basis).

  An article that discusses the benchmark and post-benchmark revisions,
  the change to NAICS 2012, and the other technical issues, as well as
  all revised historical Current Employment Statistics (CES) data, can
  be accessed through the CES homepage at www.bls.gov/ces/. Information
  on the revisions released today also may be obtained by calling (202)
  691-6555.

    Table A. Revisions in total nonfarm employment, January-December 2011,
    seasonally adjusted                                                    

    (Numbers in thousands)
    ___________________________________________________________________________________
                   |                                 |                     	       |
                   |              Level              |    Over-the-month change        |
                   |---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
     Year and month|    As    |          |           |    As    |          |           |
                   |previously|    As    | Difference|previously|    As    | Difference|
                   |published |  revised |           |published |  revised |           |
    _______________|__________|__________|___________|__________|__________|___________|
                   |          |          |           |          |          |           |
         2011      |          |          |           |          |          |           |
         	   |          |	         |	     |	        |	   |           |
    January........|  130,328 | 130,456  |   128     |    68    |   110    |    42     |
    February.......|  130,563 | 130,676  |   113     |   235    |   220    |   -15     |
    March..........|  130,757 | 130,922  |   165     |   194    |   246    |    52     |
    April..........|  130,974 | 131,173  |   199     |   217    |   251    |    34     |
    May............|  131,027 | 131,227  |   200     |    53    |    54    |     1     |
    June...........|  131,047 | 131,311  |   264     |    20    |    84    |    64     |
    July...........|  131,174 | 131,407  |   233     |   127    |    96    |   -31     |
    August.........|  131,278 | 131,492  |   214     |   104    |    85    |   -19     |
    September......|  131,488 | 131,694  |   206     |   210    |   202    |    -8     |
    October........|  131,600 | 131,806  |   206     |   112    |   112    |     0     |
    November.......|  131,700 | 131,963  |   263     |   100    |   157    |    57     |
    December (p)...|  131,900 | 132,166  |   266     |   200    |   203    |     3     |
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     p = preliminary.

        Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household Survey

  Effective with data for January 2012, updated population estimates
 which reflect the results of Census 2010 have been used in the
 household survey. Population estimates for the household survey are
  developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau
  updates the estimates to reflect new information and assumptions about
  the growth of the population during the decade. The change in
  population reflected in the new estimates results from the
  introduction of the Census 2010 count as the new population base,
  adjustments for net international migration, updated vital statistics and
  other information, and some methodological changes in the estimation
  process. The vast majority of the population change, however, is due
  to the change in base population from Census 2000 to Census 2010.

  In accordance with usual practice, BLS will not revise the official
  household survey estimates for December 2011 and earlier months. To
  show the impact of the population adjustment, however, differences in
  selected December 2011 labor force series based on the old and new
  population estimates are shown in table B.

  The adjustment increased the estimated size of the civilian
  noninstitutional population in December by 1,510,000, the civilian
  labor force by 258,000, employment by 216,000, unemployment by 42,000,
  and persons not in the labor force by 1,252,000. Although the total
  unemployment rate was unaffected, the labor force participation rate
  and the employment-population ratio were each reduced by 0.3
  percentage point. This was because the population increase was
  primarily among persons 55 and older and, to a lesser degree, persons
  16 to 24 years of age. Both these age groups have lower levels of
  labor force participation than the general population.

  Data users are cautioned that these annual population adjustments
  affect the comparability of household data series over time. Table C
  shows the effect of the introduction of new population estimates on
  the comparison of selected labor force measures between December 2011 and
  January 2012. Additional information on the population adjustments and
  their effect on national labor force estimates is available at
  www.bls.gov/cps/cps12adj.pdf.

  Table B. Effect of the updated population controls on December 2011 estimates by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, not seasonally adjusted 
  (Numbers in thousands)                                                      

  _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                              |      |     |      |       |        |       |
                                              |      |     |      |       |  Black |       |
                                              |      |     |      |       |    or  |       |  Hispanic
                  Category                    |Total | Men | Women| White | African| Asian | or Latino
                                              |      |     |      |       |American|       | ethnicity
                                              |      |     |      |       |        |       |
  ____________________________________________|______|_____|______|_______|________|_______|___________
   					      |	     |	   |	  |	  |	   |	   |
  Civilian noninstitutional population........| 1,510| -116| 1,626| -1,181|     407|  1,161|   1,330
    Civilian labor force......................|   258| -413|   671| -1,385|     166|    731|     781
      Participation rate......................|   -.3|  -.3|   -.2|    -.3|     -.3|    -.2|     -.3
     Employed.................................|   216| -368|   584| -1,266|     165|    676|     675
      Employment-population ratio.............|   -.3|  -.3|   -.2|    -.3|     -.2|    -.2|     -.3
     Unemployed...............................|    42|  -45|    87|   -119|       2|     55|     106
      Unemployment rate.......................|    .0|   .0|    .0|     .0|     -.1|     .1|      .1
    Not in labor force........................| 1,252|  297|   955|    205|     240|    430|     550
  ____________________________________________|______|_____|______|_______|________|_______|___________

   NOTE:  Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Estimates for the above race groups (white,
 black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races.
 Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.           

  Table C. December 2011-January 2012 changes in selected labor force measures, with adjustments for population control effects                

  (Numbers in thousands)                                                      

  ____________________________________________________________________________
                                       |           |            |
                                       |           |            |  Dec.-Jan.
                                       | Dec.-Jan. |    2012    |   change,
                                       |  change,  | population |  after re-
                Category               |    as     |   control  |  moving the
                                       | published |   effect   |  population
                                       |           |            |   control
                                       |           |            |  effect(1)
  _____________________________________|___________|____________|_____________
                                       |           |            |
  Civilian noninstitutional population.|  1,685    |      1,510 |     175
    Civilian labor force...............|    508    |        258 |     250
      Participation rate...............|    -.3    |        -.3 |      .0
     Employed..........................|    847    |        216 |     631
      Employment-population ratio......|     .0    |        -.3 |      .3
     Unemployed........................|   -339    |         42 |    -381
      Unemployment rate................|    -.2    |         .0 |     -.2
    Not in labor force.................| 1,177 | 1,252| -75   _____________________________________|___________|____________|_____________

    (1) This Dec.-Jan. change is calculated by subtracting the population
  control effect from the over-the-month change in the published seasonally
  adjusted estimates.