by Nick Dobbins
February 2014
Monthly analysis is based on seasonally adjusted employment data.
Yearly analysis is based on unadjusted employment data.*
Employment growth was relatively flat in January, adding just 800 jobs, an increase of less than 1 percent. The December 2013 change was revised upward from an increase of 9,500 to an increase of 11,900 over November levels (0.4 percent). Private employment increased by 2,600 for the month, while Government employers shed 1,800 jobs (0.4 percent). Goods-Producing industries saw a gain of 1,400 jobs (0.3 percent), led by a 2,300 job increase in Manufacturing (0.7 percent). Those gains more than counterbalanced the effects of the loss of 600 jobs from Service Providers, their first such decline since July. The biggest losses of the month came in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities, which dropped 2,100 jobs in January (0.4 percent). Over the year, overall employment grew 51,881 before the seasonal adjustment, a 1.9 percent increase. Goods-Producers led the way with 14,579 jobs added (3.7 percent).
Employment in Mining and Logging was unchanged in January, remaining at 7,000 jobs. Employment has remained flat for some time, as the most recent instance of employment varying by more than 200 from the current level was in September 2011, when employment dropped to 6,700 jobs. Mining and Logging gained 57 jobs (0.9 percent) in the past 12 months.
Construction employment was off by 900 (0.8 percent) in January, bringing the total employment to 105,300. This was the industry's first loss since November 2012. Over the year, Construction employment has grown by 9,458 (11.8 percent).
Employment in Manufacturing increased 2,300 (0.7 percent) over the month. This marks the sixth month in a row that employment has held steady or increased. Strong months from both Durable and Non-Durable goods Manufacturing contributed to the improvement. Durable Goods Manufacturing grew by 1,300 (0.7 percent) and Non-Durable added 1,000 jobs (0.9 percent). Manufacturing employment is now up 5,064 (1.7 percent) over the past 12 months.
Employment in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities continued its recent history of fluctuation, dropping by 2,100 (0.4 percent) in January, after seeing gains of 4,200 in December. The industry's recent pattern has been to follow its monthly gains by giving a portion of those jobs back in alternating months, starting in August 2013. January's losses come entirely from the Retail Trade subsector, which lost 3,200 jobs (1.1 percent), overcoming smaller gains in Wholesale Trade (900, 0.7 percent) and Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (200, 0.2 percent). The industry is up 11,283 jobs (2.2 percent) since January 2013, with gains of at least 1.9 percent in all three major subsectors.
Employment in Information saw a sharp decline in January, falling by 800 (1.4 percent) to settle at a seasonally adjusted 54,400 jobs. December's loss of 100 (0.2) percent has been adjusted up to a gain of 300. Over the year, employment in the Information supersector has increased by 1,739 (3.3 percent).
Financial Activities employment decreased by 1,500 (0.8 percent) in January, bringing the total employment level in the supersector to 180,200. The drop originated in declines in both major industries, as Finance and Insurance shed 800 jobs (0.6 percent), and Real Estate and Rental and Leasing lost 700 jobs (1.7 percent). Over the year, Financial Activities has lost 114 jobs, a 0.1 percent decrease, which represents the first month of losses for the industry since December 2011. Finance and Insurance has lost 731 jobs (0.5 percent) since January 2013.
Employment in Professional and Business Services grew by 300 (0.1 percent) in January, for a seasonally adjusted total of 347,000 jobs, following small gains in two of the three component industries. Management of Companies and Enterprises added 500 jobs (0.6 percent), and Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services added 200 jobs (0.1 percent). Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services lost 400 jobs (0.3 percent), marking the fourth consecutive month of job losses. Over the year, the supersector has gained 5,676 jobs, a 1.7 percent increase.
Employment in Educational and Health Services increased 2,000 (0.4 percent) in January, marking the sixth straight month of job growth in the supersector. The monthly gains come from a boost in Education Services employment, up 2,300 (3.4 percent) for the month, which more than made up for the loss of 300 (0.1 percent ) in the other major component industry, Health Care and Social Assistance, which has been one of our strongest industries recently. The decline marks the first monthly job loss in the subsector since July 2011, following an upward revision of December's level from a loss of 0.2 percent to essentially flat. Since January 2013, Educational and Health Services has added more than 12,101 jobs, a 2.5 percent increase on the year.
Leisure and Hospitality started out the year strong with a jump of 2,800 jobs (1.1 percent) in January. There was strong growth in both major component industries, as Accommodation and Food Services added 1,500 (0.7 percent) and Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation added a seasonally adjusted 1,300 jobs (3.2 percent), the fastest growth of any major subsector. Over the past year, Leisure and Hospitality employment has added 3,413 jobs (1.5 percent).
Other Services continued slowly adding jobs in January, increasing its total by 500 (0.4 percent) to 119,300. This is the third straight month of growth for the supersector. Since last year, Other Services has added 3,077 jobs, or 2.7 percent.
Government employment dropped in January, losing 1,800 jobs (0.1 percent), the most job losses in this supersector in six months and settled in at 414,800, seasonally adjusted jobs. A gain of 1,000 (0.4 percent) in Local Government was not enough to overcome the declines of 300 jobs (1.0 percent) in Federal Government and 2,500 (2.5 percent) in State Government. Despite these losses, Government is still holding on to some minor yearly gains, up only 127 (less than one percent) over the last 12 months.
| Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment (in thousands) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | January 2014 | December 2013 | November 2013 |
| Total Nonfarm | 2,812.3 | 2,811.7 | 2,788.2 |
| Goods-Producing excl. Ag. | 425.4 | 424.3 | 411.3 |
| Mining and Logging | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.5 |
| Construction | 105.3 | 106.2 | 98.7 |
| Manufacturing | 313.1 | 311.1 | 305.1 |
| Service-Providing | 2,386.9 | 2,387.4 | 2,376.9 |
| Trade, Transportation, and Utilities | 515.0 | 518.2 | 517.2 |
| Information | 54.1 | 55.2 | 56.9 |
| Financial Activities | 180.5 | 181.7 | 179.9 |
| Professional and Business Services | 347.6 | 346.7 | 340.8 |
| Educational and Health | 499.1 | 497.9 | 496.3 |
| Leisure and Hospitality | 255.3 | 252.3 | 254.6 |
| Other Services (Private Only) | 119.0 | 118.8 | 116.7 |
| Government | 416.3 | 416.6 | 414.5 |
| Source: Department of Employment and Economic Development, Current Employment Statistics, 2014. | |||
*Over-the-year data are not seasonally adjusted because of small changes in seasonal adjustment factors from year to year. Also, there is no seasonality in over-the-year changes.
