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January 07, 2022US EMPLOYMENT, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2021 The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that US non-farm payroll employment increased 199,000 from November to December 2021.
US employment fell by 22.4 million in March and April 2020. Although this was a much sharper decline in employment than observed during the previous US recession, the recovery in employment has also been much faster. As of December 2021, US employment has recovered 84.0% of jobs lost in March and April 2020.
In December 2021, US employment increased in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing, wholesale trade, and mining. Employment was little changed in retail trade, information, financial activities, health care, other services, and government.
The US unemployment rate declined 0.3 percentage points to 3.9% in December 2021. US unemployment was 6.3 million in December 2021. The US unemployment rate remains 0.4 percentage points higher, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 0.6 million compared to February 2020.
The US participation rate remained stable at 61.9% of the working age population in December 2021, this is 1.5 percentage points below its February 2020 level.
The US employment to population ratio increased 0.2 percentage points to 59.5% in December 2021. This is 1.7 percentage points lower than its February 2020 level.
Annual
The average US employment level increased by 3.9 million in 2021 to 146.1 million compared to a decrease of 8.6 million in 2020. The unemployment rate averaged 5.4% in 2021 compared to 8.1% in 2020.
The participation rate was down 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year at 61.7% in 2021, the lowest level since 1976, while the US employment rate increased by 1.6 percentage points to 58.4% in 2021.
Note: Canadian and US labour force statistics refer to different working-age cohorts.
Sources:
US Bureau of Labor Statistics news release, Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle
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