Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130k; unemployment rate changed little at 4.3 percent
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in January, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, and construction, while federal government and financial activities lost jobs.
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.4 million, changed little in January. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 4.0 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 6.9 million.
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 453,000 to 4.9 million in January but is up by 410,000 over the year. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
In January, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job decreased by 399,000 to 5.8 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.7 million in January. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little at 475,000 in January.
INDUSTRY FOCUS(Establishment Survey Data)
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Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in January. Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, and construction, while federal government and financial activities lost jobs. Payroll employment changed little in 2025 (+15,000 per month on average).
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Health care added 82,000 jobs in January, with gains in ambulatory health care services (+50,000), hospitals (+18,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000). Job growth in health care averaged 33,000 per month in 2025.
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Employment in social assistance increased by 42,000 in January, primarily in individual and family services (+38,000).
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Construction added 33,000 jobs in January, reflecting an employment gain in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (+25,000). Employment in construction was essentially flat in 2025.
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In January, federal government employment continued to decline (-34,000) as some federal employees who accepted a deferred resignation offer in 2025 came off federal payrolls. Since reaching a peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 327,000, or 10.9 percent.
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Financial activities employment declined by 22,000 in January and is down by 49,000 since reaching a recent peak in May 2025. Within the industry, insurance carriers and related activities lost 11,000 jobs over the month.
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Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.