January 2023 Jobs Report: A Look at December’s Trends

Executive Summary

With the addition of 223,000 total jobs to the labor market — 220,000 in the private sector and 3,000 in the public sector — the U.S. economy saw another month of strong job growth, defying experts’ expectations. December’s unemployment rate declined to one of the lowest levels of the year, closing out 2022 at 0.5 percentage points below January’s high of 4%. Job openings in the labor market remained elevated at 10.6 million, keeping them 52% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Despite recession fears, employee behavior and outlook did not appear to change as the labor force participation rate remained at 62.3% and quits grew by 126,000 in pursuit of wage growth and better benefits.