Charting payroll employment for January 2008
In January, total nonfarm payroll employment was about unchanged, after edging up in November and December. In 2007, payroll employment increased by an average of 95,000 jobs per month.
Both construction and manufacturing employment continued to decline in January, and health care employment rose.
Construction employment decreased by 27,000 in January, and has fallen by 284,000 since its peak in September 2006.
Manufacturing lost 28,000 jobs in January. Over the month, small declines occurred among many durable and nondurable goods industries. Manufacturing has lost 269,000 jobs over the last 12 months.
In the service-providing sector, health care employment continued to grow in January (27,000), about in line with average monthly gains over the prior 12 months.
These data are from the BLS Current Employment Statistics program, and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months are preliminary. More information can be found in "The Employment Situation: January 2008," news release USDL 08-0130.