WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January, falling short of the 169,000 figure projected by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that employers added 111,000 private sector jobs, while government sector employment grew by 32,000.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in January was 4 percent, down from 4.1 percent the prior month.
The BLS noted that neither the wildfires in Southern California that began in early January nor the cold weather across much of the country for a significant portion of the month had any discernable impact on national payroll employment, hours and earnings.
In January, job gains occurred in healthcare, retail trade and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and the oil and gas extraction industry.
More specifically, the healthcare sector added 44,000 jobs in January, including gains in hospitals (+14,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000), and home health care services (+11,000). Job growth in healthcare averaged 57,000 per month in 2024.
Retail trade employment increased by 34,000 in January. Job gains occurred in general merchandise retailers (+31,000) and furniture and home furnishings retailers (+5,000). Electronics and appliance retailers lost 7,000 jobs. Retail trade employment had shown little net change in 2024.
Employment in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry declined by 8,000 over the month, following little net change in 2024. In January, the job loss was concentrated in support activities for mining (-8,000). The leisure and hospitality sector also took a slight hit in January with a net loss of 3,000 jobs.
There was little change in employment over the month in other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and professional and business services.
The BLS also made some large revisions to job gains in November and December 2024. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised up by 49,000, from 212,000 to 261,000. The figure for December was revised up by 51,000, from 256,000 to 307,000. With these revisions, employment in November and December combined is 100,000 higher than previously reported.