Nonfarm employment rises by 252,000 in December 2014

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 252,000 in December 2014. For all of 2014, job growth averaged 246,000 per month. That compares with an average monthly gain of 194,000 in 2013. In December 2014, employment increased in professional and business services, construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing.

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Chart Data Monthly change in nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, December 2010 to December 2014 Month Change Dec 2010 71,000 Jan 2011 70,000 Feb 2011 168,000 Mar 2011 212,000 Apr 2011 322,000 May 2011 102,000 Jun 2011 217,000 Jul 2011 106,000 Aug 2011 122,000 Sep 2011 221,000 Oct 2011 183,000 Nov 2011 164,000 Dec 2011 196,000 Jan 2012 360,000 Feb 2012 226,000 Mar 2012 243,000 Apr 2012 96,000 May 2012 110,000 Jun 2012 88,000 Jul 2012 160,000 Aug 2012 150,000 Sep 2012 161,000 Oct 2012 225,000 Nov 2012 203,000 Dec 2012 214,000 Jan 2013 197,000 Feb 2013 280,000 Mar 2013 141,000 Apr 2013 203,000 May 2013 199,000 Jun 2013 201,000 Jul 2013 149,000 Aug 2013 202,000 Sep 2013 164,000 Oct 2013 237,000 Nov 2013 274,000 Dec 2013 84,000 Jan 2014 144,000 Feb 2014 222,000 Mar 2014 203,000 Apr 2014 304,000 May 2014 229,000 Jun 2014 267,000 Jul 2014 243,000 Aug 2014 203,000 Sep 2014 271,000 Oct 2014 261,000 Nov 2014(p) 353,000 Dec 2014(p) 252,000

From December 2013 to December 2014, professional and business services gained 732,000 jobs, the most among the major industries. Health care and social assistance added 426,000 jobs over the year, while leisure and hospitality added 421,000. Construction employment grew by 290,000 over the year, and manufacturing gained 186,000 jobs. Federal government employment declined by 17,000 over the year.

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Chart Data Change in nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, December 2013 to December 2014 Industry Number Percent Total nonfarm 2,952,000 2.1 Mining and logging 49,000 5.6 Construction 290,000 4.9 Manufacturing 186,000 1.5 Wholesale trade 110,700 1.9 Retail trade 249,600 1.6 Transportation and warehousing 139,300 3.1 Utilities 6,900 1.3 Information 15,000 0.6 Financial activities 121,000 1.5 Professional and business services 732,000 3.9 Educational services 56,400 1.7 Health care and social assistance 426,000 2.4 Leisure and hospitality 421,000 2.9 Other services 58,000 1.1 Federal government -17,000 -0.6 State government 21,000 0.4 Local government 87,000 0.6

Total nonfarm employment grew 2.1 percent over the year. Employment in the mining and logging industry grew 5.6 percent, the fastest rate among the major industries. Construction employment grew 4.9 percent. Professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, leisure and hospitality, and health care and social assistance also grew faster than the overall average.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — December 2014" (HTML) (PDF). More charts featuring nonfarm employment data are in Current Employment Statistics Highlights: December 2014 (PDF).