Last Updated: 16.01.2023
Rinas Bullatovci
Sr. Content Editor
Employment and Unemployment Statistics to Know in 2023
Key Takeaways: January 2023 Data
Section 01
Household Survey Data
Section 02
Establishment Survey Data
Section 03
Unemployment Rate by State
Section 04
Employment in the United States
Section 05
Income Statistics
Section 06
Employment and Unemployment by Level of Education
Section
01
Unemployment Statistics: Household Survey Data
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of nonfarm payroll jobs rose by 261,000 in October, and the unemployment rate decreased to 3.4%. Sectors that saw significant job growth include healthcare, professional and technical services, and manufacturing.
The unemployment rate for adult women and Whites both increased in October, at 3.4% and 3.2% respectively, according to the major worker groups reported.
There were little or no changes in the jobless rate for adult men (3.3%), teenagers (11.0%), Blacks (5.9%), Asians (2.9%), and Hispanics (4.2%) over the month, according to the reported data.
In October, the number of long-term unemployed (those out of work for 27 weeks or more) remained largely unchanged at 1.2 million, making up 19.5% of all unemployed individuals.
There was little change in the number of individuals employed part-time for economic reasons in October, standing at 3.7 million.
The number of permanent job losers and persons on temporary layoff remained largely unchanged in October, with 1.2 million and 847,000 respectively, among the unemployed population.
These individuals, who desire full-time employment, are working part-time due to reduced hours or difficulty in finding full-time employment.
The number of individuals not in the labor force but wanting employment remained largely unchanged in October at 5.7 million, remaining above its pre-pandemic level of 5.0 million in February 2023.
In July 2022, the employment-population ratio for youth (16-24) was 55.3%, up from the prior year.
The ratio was higher for men, whites, and Asians, but little changed for women, blacks, and Hispanics.
The leisure and hospitality industry employed 24% of employed youth, while 19% worked in retail trade and 12% in education and health services.
The youth unemployment rate was 8.5%, down from the prior year, with lower rates for men, whites, and Hispanics, but little change for women, blacks, and Asians.
These individuals wanted and were able to work, and had sought employment in the past 12 months but did not actively look for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey.
In October, the number of discouraged workers, a subgroup of the marginally attached who believe no job opportunities are available to them, decreased by 114,000 to 371,000.
As of December 2022, the unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 years old was 8.2 percent.
This figure varied throughout the year, ranging from a high of 8.3 percent at the beginning of 2022, to a low of 7.8 percent in May and July 2022.
In comparison, the overall unemployment rate for the United States was 3.5 percent in December 2022.
Additionally, as of November 2022, Illinois and Nevada had the highest state unemployment rate of all U.S. states, at 4.7 and 4.9 percent unemployment respectively.
Word processors, typists, parking enforcement personnel, and nuclear power reactor operators are among the professions that are rapidly diminishing.
Unemployment rates were lower in November than they were a year earlier in 235 of the 389 metropolitan areas, higher in 133 areas, and stable in 21 regions.
Two regions had rates of at least 10.0 percent, and a total of 150 areas had rates of unemployment below 3.0 percent.
95 metropolitan areas saw a rise in non-farm payroll employment during the past year, while 294 saw basically no change.
Without accounting for seasonal variations, the nation's jobless rate in November fell from 3.9 percent to 3.4 percent.
Over the projection period, growth in the civilian labor force is anticipated to be constrained by slower projected population growth.
The civilian labor force is anticipated to grow by 7.7 million people from 161.2 million in 2021 to 168.9 million in 2031.
This amounts to a forecast annual growth rate of 0.5 percent, which is less than rates in years preceding to 2011 but equal to that of the 2011–21 decade.
The expected decline in the labor force participation rate is from 61.7 percent in 2021 to 60.1 percent in 2031.
The primary cause of the drop in the labor force participation rate over the ten-year period of 2021–31 is an aging population, which is indicated by a higher proportion of people over the age of 65.
In addition, as more older workers remain in the workforce, the participation rates for the 55 to 64 and 65+ age groups are anticipated to rise over the projected ten years.
Over the ten-year period 2021–2031, real GDP is anticipated to increase by 2.1 percent annually.
This is lower than the rates of 3.0 percent and above witnessed in the 1980s and 1990s, but it is higher than the two decades' respective yearly rates of 2.0 percent and 1.8 percent from the two prior decades.
The industry with the biggest job growth, healthcare and social assistance, is predicted to add nearly 2.6 million jobs between 2021 abs 2031.
The individual and family services sector is anticipated to experience growth at 2.8 percent.
Leisure and hospitality, with an annual growth rate of 1.3%, will expand the quickest.
Food services and drinking industry is predicted to create about 1.3 million jobs between 2021 and 2031.
The retail industry is expected to lose the most jobs from 202 to 2031.
Over the ten-year period 2012–2021, job losses are anticipated to occur in three occupational groups: sales and allied occupations, production occupations, and office and administrative support occupations.
Section
02
Establishment Survey Data
In this section, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of unemployment statistics from the establishment survey data. Discover how employment and unemployment conditions in the U.S. are represented through the measurement of non-farm payroll jobs, hours worked, and earnings by industry on a monthly basis.
In October, the number of nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 261,000. On average, the number of jobs added each month in 2022 is 407,000, which is lower than the average of 562,000 jobs added per month in 2021.
There were significant increases in employment in the health care, professional and technical services, and manufacturing sectors in October.
The health care sector saw an increase of 53,000 jobs, with notable growth in ambulatory health care services adding 31,000 jobs, nursing and residential care facilities adding 11,000 jobs, and hospitals adding 11,000 jobs in October.
The professional and technical services sector added 43,000 jobs.
The professional and technical services sector has seen an average increase of 41,000 jobs per month in 2022.
Health care sector has seen an average increase of 47,000 jobs per month in 2022, which is higher than the average increase of 9,000 jobs per month in 2021.
Manufacturing sector has seen an average increase of 37,000 jobs per month in 2022, compared to the average increase of 30,000 jobs per month in 2021.
The financial activities industry saw a slight increase of 3,000 jobs in October driven by job gains in insurance carriers and related activities, securities, commodity contracts, and investments.
The construction sector has seen an average increase of 19,000 jobs per month in 2022, which is similar to the average increase of 16,000 jobs per month in 2021.
The individual and family services sub-sector showed consistent growth and added 10,000 jobs.
As of December 2022, employment in the service sector is 174,000 less than its February 2020 level, representing a 2.9 percent decrease.
The retail trade sector has seen an increase of 16,000 jobs per month in 2022.
The transportation and warehousing sector saw a small increase of 5,000 jobs.
In December, the professional and business services sector saw little change in employment (-6,000).
In December, the average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls rose by 9 cents or 0.3% to $32.82. In the past 12 months, the average hourly earnings have increased by 4.6%.
Additionally, the average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 6 cents or 0.2% to $28.07.
In December, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours.
Section
03
Unemployment Rate by State
In December, unemployment rates were higher in 7 states, lower in 5 states, and unchanged in 38 states and the District of Columbia, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In this section we have gathered the latests unemployment statistics. Keep reading to discover the unemployment rate trends in various states in recent years.
35 states and the District had a decrease in unemployment rate compared to the previous year, while 4 states had an increase and 11 states had little change.
The national unemployment rate decreased to 3.5% over the month and was 0.4 percentage point lower than in December 2021.
Nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 1 state and remained unchanged in 49 states and the District of Columbia in December 2022.
Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 42 states and remained unchanged in 8 states and the District.
Utah had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.2%, followed by North Dakota and South Dakota at 2.3% each.
Alaska and Pennsylvania set new lows for their series at 4.3% and 3.9% respectively.
Nevada had the highest unemployment rate at 5.2%.
14 states had unemployment rates lower than the national rate of 3.5%, 11 states and the District had higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not significantly different from the national rate.
Seven states saw an increase in their unemployment rate over the month, with the largest increase being in Nevada (+0.3 percentage point).
Five states saw a decrease, with the largest decrease being in Maryland (-0.3 percentage point).
The largest decrease in unemployment rate from December 2021 was in New Mexico (-2.0 percentage points), followed by California and New Jersey (-1.7 percentage points each).
The largest increase in unemployment rate over the year occurred in Oklahoma (+0.6 percentage point).
In November, 5 states saw an increase in quit rates, 1 state saw a decrease, and 44 states plus the District of Columbia saw little change.
The states with the largest increases in quit rates were Washington (+0.7 percentage point), Iowa (+0.6 point), and California (+0.5 point). North Carolina (-0.3 point) was the only state to see a decrease. The national quit rate remained largely unchanged.
In November, the number of quits increased in 5 states, decreased in 1 state, and remained unchanged in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
In November, the rate of layoffs and discharges decreased in 8 states, increased in 2 states, and remained unchanged in 40 states and the District of Columbia.
The states with the largest decrease in layoffs and discharges rate were Ohio (-0.5 percentage point) and Indiana, Missouri, and Tennessee (-0.4 point each).
The states with the highest increases in the number of quits were California (+86,000), Washington (+26,000), and Indiana (+12,000).
The states with the highest increase in layoffs and discharges rate were Alaska (+0.6 point) and New Mexico (+0.5 point).
The only state to see a decrease in the number of quits was North Carolina (-16,000). At a national level, there was little change in the number of quits over the month.
In terms of the number of layoffs and discharges, 5 states saw a decrease, 2 states saw an increase, and 43 states plus the District of Columbia saw little change. The states with the highest decrease in the number of layoffs and discharges were New York (-26,000), Ohio (-24,000), and Tennessee (-14,000).
Section
04
Employment in the United States
According to Trading Economics, the employment rate in the US rose from 59.90% in November to 60.2% in January 2023. Furthermore, there was an increase of 894 thousand employed individuals, bringing the total to 160.1 million.
The number of employed individuals in the United States rose to 159,244 thousand in December 2022 from 158,527 thousand in November 2022.
The number of unemployed individuals in the United States dropped to 5,722 thousand in December of 2022 from 6,000 thousand in November of 2022.
Job openings rates decreased in 8 states and increased in 7 states on the last business day of November.
In July 2022, the employment-population ratio was higher than a year earlier for young men (56.3%), Whites (58.3%), and Asians (44.1%), while little change was seen for women (54.3%), Blacks (46.4%), and Hispanics (50.1%).
The ratios for men, women, Whites, Asians, and Hispanics were similar to July 2019, but for blacks it was 3.4% lower.
In July 2022, 24% (5.1 million) of employed 16-24 year-olds worked in the leisure and hospitality industry, similar to the prior year, 19% in retail trade industry, and 12% in education and health services.
Hires rates increased in 4 states and decreased in 3 states. Nationally, the job openings, hires, and total separations rates remained relatively unchanged in November.
Job openings rates decreased in 8 states, increased in 7 states, and remained relatively unchanged in 35 states and the District of Columbia.
In November the largest decreases in the number of job openings occurred in Texas (-76,000), Virginia (-64,000), and New York (-62,000). The states with the largest increases in job openings were Florida (+85,000), Illinois (+37,000), and Wisconsin (+35,000).
The largest increases occurred in Wisconsin (+1.0 point) and in Iowa and North Dakota (+0.8 point each). The national job openings rate remained unchanged.
The number of job openings decreased in 9 states, increased in 7 states, and remained relatively unchanged in 34 states and the District of Columbia.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in 95 metropolitan areas and remained unchanged in 294 areas. The areas with the largest employment increases were New York-Newark-Jersey City, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
The largest increases in hires rates occurred in Maine, Iowa and North Dakota, while the largest decreases in hires rates occurred in Alabama, Louisiana and Massachusetts.
The metropolitan divisions with the largest employment increases over the year were New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ (+307,600), Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX (+194,100), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA (+193,800)
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 23 metropolitan divisions and remained unchanged in 15 divisions.
As of December 2022, about 3 million people were employed in the information industry in the United States, with the professional and business services industry employing the most, at around 22.42 million people.
Section
05
Income Statistics
The Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed that wages in the United States experienced a 7.86 percent increase in January of 2023 when compared to the same month in the previous year.
Connecticut and New York have set a minimum wage of $15 per hour, while Florida has set a minimum wage of $12 per hour.
Georgia has a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour for employers of six or more employees.
In New Jersey, there is a minimum wage of $11.90 for seasonal and small employers who employ fewer than six people.
In New York, the rate is $15.00 per hour for Long Island, Westchester, and in New York City, while the rest of the state has $14.20 per hour. Minnesota has two minimum wage rates, one for large employers and one for small employers.
Montana has a minimum wage of $4.00 per hour for businesses with gross annual sales of less than $110,000 not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Nevada has a minimum wage of $10.50 per hour for employees with qualifying health insurance not offered by their employer, and $9.50 per hour for employees with qualifying health insurance offered by their employer.
Ohio businesses with annual sales under $305,000 must pay a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and benefits and compensation costs for state and local government workers rose 4.6% and 5.0%, respectively, from September 2021 to September 2022.
Nevada's minimum wage will become $12 for all employees on July 1, 2024. In Oklahoma, businesses with gross annual sales of less than $100,000 may pay a minimum wage of $2.00 per hour.
Full-time workers earn a median weekly wage of $1,085 and female workers earned 82.9% compared to male workers' median wage of $1,176.
Asian women earned 81.5 percent, and Hispanic women earned 86.5 percent. Black men earned $951 working part time, or 79.6 percent of the median for White men ($1,194). Hispanic men earned 75.0 percent of the median for White men. Black women earned $856, or 86.4 percent of those for White women ($991), and Hispanic women earned $774, or 78.1 percent of those for White women.In comparison, Asian men earned $1,647 and women earned $1,342, which were higher than those of their White counterparts.
The usual weekly earnings for men and women ages 35 to 64 were highest, with men earning a median of $1,305 for those ages 35 to 44, $1,355 for those ages 45 to 54, and $1,329 for those ages 55 to 64. Women earned a median of $1,099 for those ages 35 to 44, $1,042 for those ages 45 to 54, and $1,017 for those ages 55 to 64. Men and women aged 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, at $744 and $694 respectively.
Women in the younger age group earned 93.3 percent as much as men, but this ratio decreased to 76.7 percent for those aged 55 and over. The median weekly earnings of full-time workers in management, professional, and related occupations was highest, with men earning $1,729 and women earning $1,316. In comparison, those employed in service occupations earned the least, with men making $782 and women earning $652.
Across all major occupational groups, persons employed full time in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings at $1,729 for men and $1,316 for women, while persons employed in service occupations earned the least at $782 for men and $652 for women.
Section
06
Employment by Level of Education
Having a good education is a key factor in achieving financial success. It is well-known that the higher a person's educational attainment, the higher their potential income. To understand the true power of education when it comes to earning potential, take a look at the following section for an in-depth look.
The share of the labor force with a high school diploma or higher was 90% or more for Whites, Blacks, and Asians aged 25 and above. Hispanics, however, had a lower rate of 78%.
Those without a high school diploma receiving a median of $675 per week, versus $875 for high school graduates and $1,547 for those with at least a bachelor's degree.
People with a college degree or higher typically have a higher chance of getting a job and a lower chance of becoming unemployed for all major racial and ethnic groups.
The jobless rate for individuals with a bachelor's degree or higher is lower than for those with less education.
The highest earning 10 percent of college graduates with advanced degrees saw the greatest disparity, with male workers making $4,618 or more per week and female workers making $3,101 or more per week.
Additionally, those with higher levels of education are more likely to be employed in higher-paying occupations such as management, professional, and related careers.
The median earnings for full-time wage and salary workers also get higher with educational attainment across all major racial and ethnic groups.
However, the median usual weekly earnings for Blacks and Hispanics with a bachelor's degree or higher are lower than those of Whites and Asians.
The highest percentage of college graduates was among Asians, with 67% having a bachelor's degree or higher. Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics followed with 43%, 34%, and 24%, respectively.