January 2019 Jobs Report

Employment and Unemployment

1. The Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 4.0 percent in January.

2. Nonfarm jobs grew by 304,000 in January. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had expected 170,000 jobs.

3. Labor revised the jobs gains for November and December downward by a combined 70,000.

4. The U-6 unemployment rate, a measure that also includes part-time and discouraged workers, was 8.1 percent, up from the previous month but down from a year ago. By this measure, roughly 13.2 million Americans are unemployed.

Labor Force Participation

1. The labor force participation rate, the share of people employed or looking for work, edged up 0.1 percentage point to 63.2 percent.

Wages

1. Wage gains continued in January, as average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents to $27.56 – a 3.2 percent increase from a year ago.