January 07, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Payroll employment up by 1.3 million in 2007

In 2007, payroll employment rose by 1.3 million compared with a gain of 2.3 million in 2006.

Annual change in nonfarm payroll employment, 2000-2007 (December-December)
[Chart data—TXT]

The health care industry added 381,000 jobs over the year. Employment in professional and technical services was up by 322,000. The food services industry added 304,000 jobs in the past 12 months. 

The mining industry added 36,000 jobs in 2007. Manufacturing employment declined by 212,000.

Employment in retail trade was essentially flat, and information industry employment was essentially unchanged over the year.

Payroll employment data are from the BLS Current Employment Statistics program. Over-the-year changes in this article are December to December. Data for December 2007 are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation: December 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 08-0013.