Payroll employment is getting close to the pre-recession peak.



Of course this doesn't include population growth and new entrants into the workforce (the workforce has continued to grow), but reaching new highs in employment will be a significant milestone in the recovery.



The graph below shows both total non-farm payroll (blue, left axis) and private payroll (red, right axis) since January 2007. Both total non-farm and private payroll employment peaked in January 2008.



The dashed line is the pre-recession peak.



Click on graph for larger image.



The pre-recession peak for total non-farm payroll employment was 138.365 million. Currently there are 137.499 million total non-farm payroll jobs, or 866 thousand fewer than the pre-recession peak.



At the recent annual pace (about 2.2 million jobs added per year), total non-farm payroll will be at a new high in mid-2014.



The pre-recession peak for private payroll employment was 115.977 million. Currently there are 115.686 million total non-farm payroll jobs, or 291 thousand fewer than the pre-recession peak. It seems likely private sector employment that will be at a new high by March.