Econ

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION – DECEMBER 2009

Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-85,000) in December, and the unemployment rate was
unchanged at 10.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, while temporary help services and health care added jobs.

In December, both the number of unemployed persons, at 15.3 million, and the unemployment rate,
at 10.0 percent, were unchanged. At the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons was 7.7 million, and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent.

Among the unemployed, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over)
continued to trend up, reaching 6.1 million. In December, 4 in 10 unemployed workers were jobless for 27 weeks or longer.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary
part-time workers) was about unchanged at 9.2 million in December and has been relatively flat since March. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because
they were unable to find a full-time job.

About 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in December, an increase of
578,000 from a year earlier. These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 929,000 discouraged workers in December, up from
642,000 a year earlier.

Health care employment continued to increase in December (22,000), with notable gains in offices of
physicians (9,000) and home health care services (8,000). The health care industry has added 631,000
jobs since the recession began.

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Construction employment declined...