Both total nonfarm payroll employment (+50,000) and the unemployment rate (4.4%) changed little in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Jan. 9. Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places, health care, and social assistance. Retail trade lost jobs.
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.4%, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.5 million, changed little in December.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.9%), adult women (3.9%), teenagers (15.7%), Whites (3.8%), Blacks (7.5%), Asians (3.6%), and Hispanics (4.9%) showed little or no change over the month.
The number of people jobless less than 5 weeks edged down to 2.3 million in December. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little over the month at 1.9 million but is up by 397,000 over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 26.0% of all unemployed people in December.
Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.4%, and the employment-population ratio, at 59.7%, changed little in December. These measures have shown little change over the year.
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 5.3 million, changed little in December but is up by 980,000 over the year.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 6.2 million in December but is up by 684,000 over the year.
