Payroll Survey – Only 74.000 jobs added in December

Posted - Filed under Payroll Survey, Release Observations.

Total NonFarm Payrolls

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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.

Payroll Growth Components

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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 (%)*
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

Payroll Growth 3-Month Moving Average

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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.

Payroll Revisions

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