Government, Healthcare and Social Assistance drive job growth in January 2024

Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 353,000 in January, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, retail trade, and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry. The labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, was unchanged in January, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.2 percent, was little changed. These measures showed little or no change over the year.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 1.3 million, was little changed in January. The long-term unemployed accounted for 20.8 percent of all unemployed people. In January, the number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.4 million, changed little. These individuals who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.