The government reported Friday that the U.S. economy generated 156,000 new non-farm jobs in December. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report arrived at those numbers from analysis of the Current Employment Survey, a survey of 146,000 business establishments and government agencies. Of the total new jobs created in December, 144,000 were in the private-sector, 12,000 in the public sector.
The headline unemployment rate—which the BLS calls U3—rose to 4.7 percent in December. The rate is calculated from another report, the Current Population Survey of 60,000 households.
Nominal wages for private-sector workers were up over the 12-month period since December 2015 by 2.9 percent, somewhat ahead of inflation.
The job count includes both full-time and part-time jobs. The December gain marked the 75th consecutive month of overall job gains. But the figure fell short of expert forecasts by Econoday (175,000) and The Wall Street Journal (183,000).
The BLS revised its previous calculations for November from 178,000 jobs to 204,000 and in October from 142,000 to 135,000. That puts the average monthly gain for the year at 180,000. This is the lowest average since 2011.
All figures are seasonally adjusted by means of a formula that changes month to month and over longer time periods as new data are collected.
An alternative gauge—U6—also derived from the CPS, measures both unemployment and underemployment. It fell 0.1 point to 9.2 percent. The last time it was below 9.2 percent was March 2008. U6 continues higher than has been the case at this stage of previous recoveries. One key element of U6 are Americans who are working part-time jobs who would like to work full time but cannot find full-time positions.
The civilian workforce in December rose by 184,000, after having fallen by 226,000 in November. The employment-population ratio remained unchanged for the third consecutive month at 59.7 percent, and the labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 62.7 percent. The participation rate has fallen over the past few years in part because of the retirement of the baby boomers, the oldest of whom turned 70 last year. But the drop-off also includes people who have given up looking for work out of frustration. The Economic Policy Institute includes those drop-outs in its calculations of “missing workers,” people who would be working it the economy were healthier.
Another monthly number the BLS calculates is the job situation for Americans in the 25-54 age cohort, which statisticians consider “prime working years.” People in this age group are the most likely of any to be employed. The employment-population ratio this cohort reached its high point of 81.9 percent in April 2000. It fell to a low of 74.8 percent in November 2010. In December 2016 remained unchanged for the third straight month at 78.2 percent.
The unemployment rate differs by race and sex. For U3: Adult men: 4.4 percent; Adult women: 4.3 percent; Whites: 4.3 percent; Blacks: 7.8 percent; Asians: 2.6 percent; Hispanics: 5.9 percent; American Indians: (not counted monthly; Teenagers: 14.7 percent; (for teenagers of color, the unemployment rate is usually much higher.)
The BLS includes a "confidence level" in its estimate of plus or minus 105,000 jobs. This means the "real" number of new jobs created in December was not 156,000 but ranged between 51,000 and 261,000.
Hours & Wages:
• Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose 7 cents an hour to $21.80 in December.
• Average work week for all employees on non-farm payrolls slipped slightly t in December to 34.3 hours.
• Average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls rose 10 cents an hour in December to $26.00 after a 3-cent fall in November.
• The manufacturing workweek in December rose by 0.1 hour to 40.7 hours.
• The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private non-farm payrolls in December remained unchanged at 33.6 hours.
Job gains and losses in December for selected categories:
- Professional services: 15,000
- Temporary help services: -15,500
- Transportation & warehousing: 14,700
- Financial activities: 13,000
- Leisure & hospitality: 24,000
- Information: -6,000
- Education and health services: 70,000
- Health care & social assistance: 63,300
- Retail trade: 6,300
- Construction: -3,000
- Manufacturing: 17,000
- Mining and Logging: -2,000
Here's what the seasonally adjusted job growth numbers have looked like in the previous 10 years compared with this December’s gain of 156,000.
December 2006: + 171,000
December 2007: + 97,000
December 2008: - 695,000
December 2009: - 279,000
December 2010: + 88,000
December 2011: + 207,000
December 2012: + 243,000
December 2013: + 45,000
December 2014: + 292,000
December 2015: + 271,000