U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 130,000 in January, after the original December estimate was revised down from 50,000 to 48,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) January 2026 Employment Situation report.
The unemployment rate edged down from 4.4% in December to 4.3% in January. Year over year, the unemployment rate has ticked up 0.3 percentage points.
Health care (+82,000), social assistance (+42,000) and construction (+33,000) showed notable job gains, while government employment (-42,000) and financial activities (-22,000) showed jobs losses.
Manufacturing continued to show little movement, adding 5,000 jobs in January after losing 8,000 jobs in December. Within manufacturing, transportation equipment and nonmetallic mineral products posted the largest job gains, while apparel and chemical manufacturing saw the largest losses, according to BLS industry sector data.
Total nonfarm employment growth for 2025 was revised down from 584,000 to 181,000.
