Research >> Economics
January Employment declined by 598,000,
Unemployment rate jumps to 7.6%
Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply in January (-598,000) and the unemployment rate rose from 7.2 to 7.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007; about one-half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months. In January, job losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.
The change in total nonfarm employment for November was revised from -584,000 to -597,000, and the change for December was revised from -524,000 to -577,000. Monthly revisions result from additional sample reports and the monthly recalculation of seasonal factors. This month, the annual benchmarking process also contributed to these revisions.
Posted: February 6, 2009 Friday 08:30 AM