The U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January, marking a slowdown from the 2024 monthly average of 166,000, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.0%, reflecting a mixed labor market picture.
Sector-Wise Job Gains and Losses
The health care, retail trade, and social assistance sectors drove job growth last month, while mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industries recorded losses.
- Health care added 44,000 jobs, with hospitals (+14,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000), and home health care services (+11,000) contributing to the increase.
- Retail trade employment rose by 34,000, led by general merchandise retailers (+31,000) and furniture and home furnishings retailers (+5,000). Electronics and appliance retailers, however, lost 7,000 jobs.
- Social assistance gained 22,000 jobs, with individual and family services seeing the highest increase (+20,000).
- Government employment continued to rise (+32,000), consistent with 2024’s average growth of 38,000 jobs per month.
- Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction shed 8,000 jobs, primarily in support activities for mining (-8,000).
Other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality, showed little change in January.
Revised Job Data Shows Weaker Labor Market in 2024
In a significant adjustment, the BLS revised U.S. job growth figures down by 598,000 for the 12 months through March 2024. The final benchmark revision, while lower than the 818,000 reduction estimated in August, still highlights a weaker-than-expected labor market performance.
Economists had anticipated a 668,000 job reduction, largely based on updates from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) for the first quarter of 2024. The revisions suggest that job growth was overstated throughout the year, raising concerns about the broader economic recovery.
Wages and Work Hours
- Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm employees increased by $0.17 (+0.5%) to $35.87 in January. Over the past year, wages have grown by 4.1%.
- For private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, wages rose by $0.16 to $30.84.
- The average workweek fell by 0.1 hour to 34.1 hours, while manufacturing hours remained steady at 40.0 hours with 2.8 hours of overtime.