Staff Solve strives to assist employers and job seekers with information and process hiring, but the overall economic picture of employment trends in the United States and possible factors involved. January 2021 Jobs Report

For the month of January, the unemployment rate decreased 0.4% to an overall 6.3%. While the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) identifies a steady decline in the unemployment rate, the unpredictability of the coronavirus on the economy is still the changing variable affecting unemployment. Unemployment declined for all major worker groups: 6.0% for all adult men, 5.7% for all adult women, while there is a slight increase for teenagers (14.8%). Temporary layoffs decreased to result in an overall 2.7 million. Since April, this has decreased significantly (an estimated 18.0 million) and hopes to bring promise to those seeking employment. Permanent job losers resulted in little change, but still 2.2 million higher than February 2020. Reentrants into the workforce decreased to 2.0 million. The number of unemployed persons who were jobless for less than 5 weeks decreased to 2.3 million while those jobless for 27 weeks or more remained unchanged when compared to December. 

Part-time employment also remained unchanged in January, but still 1.6 million when compared to the data from February 2020. The amount of persons who are not in the labor force who currently want employment decreased in January, but is 1.9 million higher when compared to last year’s data. However, this specific data was not included in the unemployment rate calculation because they were not actively looking for work during the last 4 weeks or were unable to accept a job offer. The number of discouraged workers changed little over the month at 624,000. The survey indicates fewer persons teleworked, while businesses who had to close temporarily or permanently and perform layoffs remained unchanged when compared to December. It is believed the effects of the holiday season kept businesses that were temporarily closed from reopening. 

Industries with gains in January were professional and business services as well as public and private education, while there was a decrease for industries in leisure and hospitality, retail trade, health care, and transportation and warehousing. Professional and business services rose to 97,000, with temporary help services estimating for most of the gain (+81,000). Job growth also occurred in management and technical consulting services (+16,000), computer systems design and related services (+11,000), and scientific research and development services (+10,000). Job losses are noticed in services to buildings and dwellings (-14,000) and in advertising and related services (-6,000). Since February, employment in professional and business services is down by 825,000. Employment increased in local government education (+49,000), state government education (+36,000), and private education (+34,000). In both public and private education, pandemic-related employment declines in 2020 distorted the normal seasonal buildup and layoff patterns. This likely contributed to the job gains in January (after seasonal adjustment). 

Wholesale trade continued to add jobs in January (+14,000). However, employment in the industry is 263,000 below its February level. Opportunities in mining increased by 9,000, with a gain of 8,000 in support activities for mining. Mining employment is down by 133,000 since a recent peak in January 2019, though employment in the industry showed little change for several months prior to the uptick in January. Leisure and hospitality declined by 61,000, following a steep decline in December (-536,000). In January, employment edged down in amusements, gambling, and recreation (-27,000) and in accommodation (-18,000). Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend down (-19,000). Employment in leisure and hospitality fell by 8.2 million during March and April, increased by 4.9 million from May to November, and then declined by 597,000 over the past 2 months. Since February, employment in leisure and hospitality is down by 3.9 million, or 22.9 percent. 

Retail trade lost 38,000 jobs in January, after adding 135,000 jobs in December. Over the month, employment declined in general merchandise stores (-38,000), electronics and appliance stores (-29,000), and nonstore retailers (-15,000). These job losses were partially offset by gains in food and beverage stores (+15,000), clothing and clothing accessories stores (+15,000), and health and personal care stores (+14,000). Employment in retail trade is 383,000 lower than in February. Health care declined by 30,000 in January. Within the industry, job losses occurred in nursing care facilities (-19,000), home health care services (-13,000), and community care facilities for the elderly (-7,000). Since February, health care employment is down by 542,000. Transportation and warehousing declined by 28,000 in January and is 164,000 lower than in February. January 2021 Jobs Report

In January, job losses occurred in warehousing and storage (-17,000) and in couriers and messengers (-14,000); however, employment in these industries is higher than in February by 97,000 and 137,000, respectively. Employment in air transportation increased by 15,000 over the month but is 105,000 lower than in February. Manufacturing changed little over the month (-10,000), following 8 months of growth. Within the industry, durable goods lost 17,000 jobs in January. Employment in manufacturing is up by 803,000 since April but is 582,000 lower than in February. Construction employment changed little over the month (-3,000), after increasing for 8 consecutive months. However, employment in the industry is down by 256,000 since February. Employment changed little in other major industries, including information, financial activities, and other services. 

In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 6 cents to $29.96. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, at $25.18, changed little (+3 cents). The large employment fluctuations over the past several months – especially in industries with lower-paid workers – complicate the analysis of recent trends in average hourly earnings.

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