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Nonfarm payroll employment growth totaled 2.2 million in 2016

January 09, 2017

Nonfarm job growth totaled 2.2 million in 2016, less than the increase of 2.7 million in 2015. Since 1986, the December-to-December change in payroll employment has averaged 1.5 million.

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Chart Data

December 12-month employment change, by industry, 1986–2016
Year	Total nonfarm	Mining and logging	Construction	Manufacturing	Wholesale trade	Retail trade	Transportation and warehousing	Utilities	Information
1986	1,902,000	-172,000	106,000	-215,000	3,300	347,500	58,000	-1,500	19,000
1987	3,153,000	17,000	187,000	331,000	120,400	355,000	120,400	2,600	75,000
1988	3,242,000	-31,000	97,000	216,000	169,400	337,800	155,600	-5,400	83,000
1989	1,943,000	7,000	32,000	-144,000	43,900	144,500	93,200	18,400	56,000
1990	311,000	2,000	-262,000	-486,000	-32,400	16,100	48,900	800	9,000
1991	-835,000	-50,000	-400,000	-479,000	-82,000	-267,300	-52,400	-6,300	-36,000
1992	1,171,000	-34,000	-17,000	-147,000	-93,800	19,000	36,900	-15,400	-2,000
1993	2,816,000	-4,000	295,000	46,000	71,200	323,500	100,900	-17,100	39,000
1994	3,852,000	-21,000	301,000	402,000	209,800	591,700	197,600	-20,800	98,000
1995	2,158,000	-18,000	118,000	14,000	118,100	212,400	93,000	-22,700	94,000
1996	2,825,000	5,000	331,000	53,000	115,100	355,000	57,200	-28,300	113,000
1997	3,407,000	19,000	263,000	304,000	148,200	210,700	136,700	-14,000	149,000
1998	3,047,000	-31,000	440,000	-139,000	101,800	209,600	150,600	-2,300	142,000
1999	3,179,000	-34,000	331,000	-169,000	115,500	407,000	131,500	-6,300	244,000
2000	1,951,000	9,000	83,000	-99,000	-65,400	226,300	111,700	-4,700	173,000
2001	-1,726,000	-4,000	-7,000	-1,470,000	-189,100	-285,300	-234,000	-2,500	-184,000
2002	-500,000	-21,000	-85,000	-799,000	-60,800	-110,900	-14,200	-9,600	-233,000
2003	113,000	-1,000	127,000	-612,000	-31,800	-58,800	-51,400	-18,400	-138,000
2004	2,042,000	25,000	290,000	-13,000	105,700	202,900	127,200	-15,200	-71,000
2005	2,514,000	49,000	416,000	-94,000	108,400	220,500	102,800	-5,000	-25,000
2006	2,092,000	55,000	152,000	-178,000	148,400	52,900	124,900	-2,100	-22,000
2007	1,147,000	35,000	-195,000	-269,000	73,200	173,500	18,800	8,600	-8,000
2008	-3,569,000	31,000	-789,000	-896,000	-240,800	-700,900	-152,800	5,800	-115,000
2009	-5,070,000	-108,000	-1,047,000	-1,375,000	-321,900	-545,400	-278,000	-6,900	-165,000
2010	1,066,000	71,000	-187,000	120,000	1,300	149,200	144,300	-2,700	-63,000
2011	2,087,000	97,000	144,000	207,000	128,700	284,300	82,800	-1,100	-4,000
2012	2,149,000	18,000	117,000	158,000	96,500	141,500	122,300	-600	-4,000
2013	2,311,000	18,000	211,000	126,000	62,900	367,800	85,600	-800	51,000
2014	3,015,000	30,000	362,000	208,000	80,700	209,500	227,100	3,800	9,000
2015	2,744,000	-136,000	296,000	26,000	55,900	284,000	109,500	9,100	30,000
2016	2,157,000	-80,000	102,000	-45,000	51,500	256,700	62,100	1,800	-2,000
Note: Data for December 2016 are preliminary.

December 12-month employment change, by industry, 1986–2016 (continued)
Year	Financial activities	Professional and business services	Education and health services	Leisure and hospitality	Other services	Federal government	State government	Local government
1986	305,000	315,000	374,000	290,000	145,000	0	76,000	251,000
1987	187,000	437,000	484,000	324,000	187,000	75,000	76,000	175,000
1988	82,000	531,000	607,000	379,000	232,000	30,000	107,000	252,000
1989	52,000	394,000	455,000	275,000	177,000	-58,000	102,000	295,000
1990	17,000	33,000	457,000	29,000	85,000	12,000	125,000	256,000
1991	-73,000	-7,000	494,000	-1,000	-48,000	11,000	12,000	150,000
1992	88,000	438,000	346,000	254,000	61,000	-20,000	83,000	174,000
1993	253,000	562,000	472,000	370,000	74,000	-64,000	79,000	216,000
1994	-1,000	784,000	544,000	343,000	145,000	-54,000	113,000	220,000
1995	42,000	559,000	420,000	332,000	118,000	-80,000	-12,000	170,000
1996	200,000	696,000	405,000	301,000	117,000	-64,000	-45,000	214,000
1997	289,000	951,000	414,000	186,000	155,000	-50,000	0	245,000
1998	282,000	765,000	396,000	289,000	131,000	-4,000	73,000	244,000
1999	93,000	849,000	317,000	330,000	109,000	-14,000	112,000	363,000
2000	63,000	476,000	386,000	270,000	58,000	-26,000	51,000	239,000
2001	96,000	-758,000	633,000	-9,000	137,000	6,000	179,000	366,000
2002	83,000	-202,000	508,000	145,000	66,000	29,000	33,000	171,000
2003	60,000	260,000	409,000	208,000	3,000	-40,000	-45,000	43,000
2004	60,000	457,000	422,000	310,000	-6,000	-12,000	14,000	145,000
2005	152,000	662,000	457,000	275,000	9,000	5,000	66,000	115,000
2006	105,000	515,000	484,000	387,000	61,000	-3,000	37,000	175,000
2007	-112,000	280,000	546,000	258,000	50,000	26,000	41,000	221,000
2008	-212,000	-831,000	516,000	-294,000	-70,000	19,000	52,000	109,000
2009	-327,000	-745,000	361,000	-312,000	-126,000	56,000	-41,000	-89,000
2010	-60,000	545,000	334,000	213,000	17,000	39,000	-17,000	-238,000
2011	44,000	576,000	393,000	381,000	66,000	-34,000	-86,000	-192,000
2012	100,000	570,000	408,000	443,000	50,000	-30,000	0	-40,000
2013	87,000	555,000	261,000	479,000	74,000	-66,000	5,000	-6,000
2014	127,000	639,000	480,000	441,000	68,000	6,000	36,000	88,000
2015	149,000	621,000	701,000	441,000	65,000	22,000	20,000	51,000
2016	159,000	522,000	593,000	295,000	57,000	36,000	2,000	145,000
Note: Data for December 2016 are preliminary.

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Over the 1986–2016 period, the change in payroll employment for the 12 months ending in December has ranged from a decrease of 5.1 million in 2009 to an increase of 3.9 million in 1994.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — December 2016" (HTML) (PDF). Charts and analysis of nonfarm employment data can be found in Current Employment Statistics Highlights: December 2016; for additional charts, see Graphics for Economic News Releases: The Employment Situation.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Nonfarm payroll employment growth totaled 2.2 million in 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/nonfarm-payroll-employment-growth-totaled-2-point-2-million-in-2016.htm (visited April 19, 2024).

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