Nonfarm payrolls is the number of paid US workers excluding farm workers, private household employees and a few other groups; the monthly change is the headline jobs number.
It comes from the BLS survey of employers in the jobs report. When news says 'the economy added 150,000 jobs', that is the change in nonfarm payrolls.
Why it matters to you
Strong payroll gains signal a healthy job market; weak or negative numbers can signal a slowdown.
Nonfarm payrolls is the number of paid US workers excluding farm workers, private household employees and a few other groups; the monthly change is the headline jobs number.
Why are farm jobs excluded?
Farm employment is seasonal and hard to survey, so it is left out to keep the monthly number reliable.
