U.S. Economy Adds 225K Jobs in January, Unemployment at 3.6%

Saturday, February 08, 2020

GoLocalPDX Business Team

The United States economy added 225,000 jobs in the month of January, while unemployment rose to 3.6%, announced the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday.

“January’s jobs report far surpassed expectations with a surge of 225,000 jobs created. For the 23rd consecutive month, the unemployment rate was at or below 4%. At 3.6%, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly as more Americans entered the labor force. The labor force participation rate moved up to the highest point since 2013,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia in a statement.

U.S. Adds Jobs

According to the Department of Labor, notable job gains occurred in construction, healthcare, and transportation and warehousing.

In January, construction employment rose by 44,000, healthcare added 36,000 jobs, while transportation and warehousing added 28,000 jobs.

The labor force rose by rose by 574,000 in January, and the labor force participation rate edged up by 0.2 percentage points to 63.4%.

Unemployment Break Down

According to the Department of Labor, the unemployment rates for adult men was 3.3%, adult women 3.2%, teenagers 12.2%, Whites 3.1%, Blacks 6.0%, Asians 3.0%, and Hispanics 4.3%.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), was 1.2 million, unchanged from December.