According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 227,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.8%. Job gains occurred in retail trade, construction and financial activities.

In January, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 1.9 million and accounted for 24.4% of the unemployed. Over the year, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 244,000.

After accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls, the civilian labor force increased by 584,000 in January, and the labor force participation rate rose by 0.2% to 62.9%. Total employment, as measured by the household survey, was up by 457,000 over the month, and the employment-population ratio edged up to 59.9%.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in January at 5.8 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time jobs.

In January, 1.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by 337,000 from a year earlier. Among the marginally attached, there were 532,000 discouraged workers in January, little changed from a year earlier.

Employment in construction rose by 36,000 in January, following little change in December. Residential building added 9,000 jobs over the month, and employment continued to trend up among residential specialty trade contractors (11,000). Over the past 12 months, construction has added 170,000 jobs.

Financial activities added 32,000 jobs in January, with gains in real estate (10,000), insurance carriers and related activities (9,000), and credit intermediation and related activities (9,000). Financial activities added an average of 15,000 jobs per month in 2016.

Employment in health care also continued to trend up in January (18,000), following a gain of 41,000 in December. The industry has added 374,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information and government, showed little change over the month.