Payroll Survey – Only 74.000 jobs added in December

Posted January 10, 2014 - Filed under Payroll Survey, Release Observations.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November Payroll Survey reported a seasonally adjusted gain of 74,000 jobs. 87,000 in the private sector. Published revisions show an increase in November’s gain of 38,000.

This was far below expectations and recent monthly job growth.

Gains across the major employment sectors are shown in the bar-chart and table below. Note that Trade, Transportation & Utilities was boosted by a strong Retail sector. All other major sectors saw muted or negative growth.

For more charts and tables at finer levels of detail, please visit our Payrolls Dataset Page.

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U.S. Payroll Jobs: Total Nonfarm. Seasonally Adjusted.
Sector	Level (000s)	Monthly Change (000s)			Mthly Chg (%)	Yr/Yr Change (000s)*			Yr/Yr Chg (%)*
Sector	Dec. 2013	Oct. 2013	Nov. 2013	Dec. 2013	Dec. 2013	Oct. 2013	Nov. 2013	Dec. 2013	Dec. 2013
Total Nonfarm	136,877	200.0	241.0	74.0	0.05	2,337.0	2,331.0	2,186.0	1.62
– Total Private	115,028	217.0	226.0	87.0	0.08	2,378.0	2,348.0	2,211.0	1.96
– – Mining and Logging	891	5.0	1.0	4.0	0.45	45.0	34.0	31.0	3.60
– – Construction	5,833	8.0	19.0	-16.0	-0.27	181.0	176.0	122.0	2.14
– – Manufacturing	12,028	17.0	31.0	9.0	0.07	57.0	81.0	77.0	0.64
– – Trade, Transportation, and Utilities	26,286	49.0	67.0	69.0	0.26	527.0	497.0	517.0	2.01
– – Information	2,672	2.0	1.0	-12.0	-0.45	12.0	-1.0	-4.0	-0.15
– – Financial Activities	7,915	9.0	1.0	4.0	0.05	93.0	89.0	84.0	1.07
– – Professional and Business Services	18,789	52.0	41.0	19.0	0.10	667.0	653.0	637.0	3.51
– – Education and Health Services	20,823	26.0	41.0	0.0	0.00	336.0	363.0	327.0	1.60
– – Leisure and Hospitality	14,291	45.0	20.0	9.0	0.06	422.0	421.0	390.0	2.81
– – Other Services	5,500	4.0	4.0	1.0	0.02	38.0	35.0	30.0	0.55
– Government	21,849	-17.0	15.0	-13.0	-0.06	-41.0	-17.0	-25.0	-0.11

Smoothed Growth

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We update here, our three-month moving average of overall jobs growth to date. The aim here is to smooth out the month to month volatility and see any trend more clearly.

Revision to Total Growth in Prior Months

Minimal revisions to prior months at the top level. Note, however, that the October and prior numbers, published by the BLS, are misleading: The December survey has, in fact, modified all prior month numbers. But the BLS chooses not to report this.

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