Non-agricultural wage bill January 2019

Job creation has led to moderate wage growth, with average hourly earnings rising only 3 cents per month, or 0.1%, well below the expected 0.3% gain. However, on an annual basis, this increase still represents an increase of 3.2%, which is consistent with previous months and the highest levels of recovery.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics official said the closure had "no discernible impact" on the possibility of making estimates, although this had an effect on the numbers.

The most notable is the number of people working part-time for economic reasons, often referred to as underemployed. This total jumped nearly 11% to 5.1 million.

The unemployment rate of the household survey increased by 241,000, or nearly 4%, to 6.5 million, which helped to increase the unemployment rate. The number of people employed in the survey dropped from 251,000 to 156.7 million. The ministry uses its business survey, which contacts businesses, to formulate the major monthly employment gains.

Several sectors contributed to the rise in job creation. Services rose by 224,000 and goods-producing industries by 72,000.

Leisure and hospitality added 74,000 jobs, with the largest gain in bars and restaurants, up 37,000. Construction was up 52,000, bringing the total to 12 months to 338,000.

Elsewhere, health care provided 42,000 euros, bringing its annual gain to 368,000 euros. Transportation and warehousing increased by 27,000 and retail trade increased by 21,000 after a year in which the sector recorded a total gain of only 26,000.

Professional and business services increased by 30,000 and manufacturing industries by 13,000, bringing the total to 261,000 over 12 months.

The average work week remained at 34.5 hours. The labor force participation rate remained stable at 63.1%, while the labor force participation rate decreased by 639 000 to just over 95 million.

The ministry also released its revisions for a full year, which it does every January month. In total, the changes added a total of 36,000 people by 2018. The revisions to the labor force count saw the non-institutional civilian population fall by 800,000 and the civilian labor force by 506,000.