EconoIndicators / Employment Situation Report

Employment Situation At a Glance

Total Employment: 146.3 million
Nonfarm Payroll Employment: 138.265 million
Monthly Change: Up 110,000
Previous Month Revision: Add 93,000 Jobs
Unemployed Persons: 7.2 million
Unemployment Rate: 4.7%
Change: Up 0.1%

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THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: SEPTEMBER 2007

Employment rose in September, and the unemployment rate was essentially
unchanged at 4.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department
of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 110,000 following
increases of 93,000 in July and 89,000 in August (as revised). In September,
health care, food services, and professional and technical services continued
to add jobs, while employment trended down in manufacturing and construction.
Average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons (7.2 million) and the unemployment rate (4.7
percent) were essentially unchanged in September. A year earlier, the number of
unemployed persons was 6.9 million and the jobless rate was 4.6 percent. (See
table A-1.)

Over the month, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.2 percent), adult
women (4.0 percent), teenagers (16.0 percent), whites (4.2 percent), blacks
(8.1 percent), and Hispanics (5.7 percent) showed little or no change. The
unemployment rate for Asians was 3.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See
tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Both total employment (146.3 million) and the civilian labor force (153.5
million) rose in September. Nearly half of the over-the-month increase in the
labor force occurred among teenagers; this offset a labor force decline among
that group in August. The employment-population ratio (62.9 percent) and the
labor force participation rate (66.0 percent) were little changed over the
month. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Nearly 1.3 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally at-
tached to the labor force in September, about the same as a year earlier. These
individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime
during the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marg-
inally attached, there were 276,000 discouraged workers in September, little
different from a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking
for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them.
The nearly 1.0 million remaining persons marginally attached to the labor force
in September had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for
reasons such as school attendance and family responsibilities. (See table
A-13.)

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Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
_______________________________________________________________________________
| | |
| Quarterly | |
| averages | Monthly data | Aug.-
Category |_________________|__________________________| Sept.
| | | | | | change
| II | III | July | Aug. | Sept. |
| 2007 | 2007 | 2007 | 2007 | 2007 |
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Civilian labor force ….| 152,807| 153,195| 153,231| 152,891| 153,464| 573
Employment …………| 145,956| 146,054| 146,110| 145,794| 146,257| 463
Unemployment ……….| 6,851| 7,142| 7,121| 7,097| 7,207| 110
Not in labor force ……| 78,675| 79,015| 78,727| 79,319| 78,997| -322
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Unemployment rates
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
All workers ………….| 4.5| 4.7| 4.6| 4.6| 4.7| 0.1
Adult men ………….| 4.0| 4.2| 4.2| 4.1| 4.2| .1
Adult women ………..| 3.9| 4.1| 4.1| 4.1| 4.0| -.1
Teenagers ………….| 15.6| 15.7| 15.2| 16.1| 16.0| -.1
White ……………..| 4.0| 4.2| 4.2| 4.2| 4.2| .0
Black or African | | | | | |
American …………| 8.4| 7.9| 8.0| 7.7| 8.1| .4
Hispanic or Latino | | | | | |
ethnicity ………..| 5.6| 5.7| 5.9| 5.5| 5.7| .2
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Nonfarm employment…….| 137,864|p138,162| 138,066|p138,155|p138,265| p110
Goods-producing (1)….| 22,447| p22,367| 22,421| p22,357| p22,324| p-33
Construction ……..| 7,665| p7,630| 7,649| p7,627| p7,613| p-14
Manufacturing …….| 14,064| p14,010| 14,046| p14,001| p13,983| p-18
Service-providing (1)..| 115,417|p115,795| 115,645|p115,798|p115,941| p143
Retail trade (2)…| 15,385| p15,394| 15,390| p15,399| p15,393| p-5
Professional and | | | | | |
business services .| 17,879| p17,930| 17,911| p17,929| p17,950| p21
Education and health | | | | | |
services ……….| 18,301| p18,480| 18,422| p18,487| p18,531| p44
Leisure and | | | | | |
hospitality …….| 13,524| p13,585| 13,566| p13,577| p13,612| p35
Government ……….| 22,233| p22,260| 22,210| p22,267| p22,304| p37
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Hours of work (3)
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Total private ………..| 33.8| p33.8| 33.8| p33.8| p33.8| p0.0
Manufacturing ………| 41.2| p41.4| 41.3| p41.4| p41.4| p.0
Overtime …………| 4.2| p4.1| 4.2| p4.1| p4.1| p.0
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100)(3)
|_____________________________________________________
| | | | | |
Total private ………..| 107.4| p107.7| 107.6| p107.7| p107.8| p0.1
|________|________|________|________|________|________
|
| Earnings (3)
|_____________________________________________________
Average hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private ………| $17.32| p$17.51| $17.45| p$17.50| p$17.57| p$0.07
Average weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private ………| 586.11| p591.73| 589.81| p591.50| p593.87| p2.37
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________

1 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
2 Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated using
unrounded data.
3 Data relate to private production and nonsupervisory workers.
p = preliminary.

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Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

In September, total payroll employment rose by 110,000 to 138.3 million,
seasonally adjusted. From June to September, employment growth averaged
90,000 per month; during the first 5 months of 2007, average growth was
147,000 per month. In September, several service-providing industries gained
jobs, while manufacturing and construction employment continued to decline.
(See table B-1.)

Health care employment continued to expand in September (33,000), with job
gains in ambulatory services and in hospitals. Over the year, health care added
396,000 jobs. Employment in social assistance increased by 12,000 in September
and by 98,000 over the year.

Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 25,000 in
September. This industry has added 355,000 jobs over the year.

Within professional and technical services, job gains occurred in September
in accounting and bookkeeping services (10,000) and in management and technical
consulting services (10,000). Job losses continued in employment services
(-35,000); this industry has lost 203,000 jobs since its recent peak in December
2006.

In retail trade, building material and garden supply stores lost 17,000
jobs over the month. Financial activities employment edged down in September.
Despite a gain of 6,000 jobs in commercial banks, credit intermediation lost
12,000 jobs over the month. Since February, employment in credit intermedia-
tion has fallen by 46,000.

Manufacturing employment decreased by 18,000 in September. Over the year,
manufacturing lost 223,000 jobs. In construction, residential specialty trade
contractors shed 15,000 jobs over the month and 160,000 since February 2006.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In September, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours, seasonally adjusted.
Both the manufacturing workweek and factory overtime also were unchanged over
the month at 41.4 and 4.1 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.1 percent in September to 107.8 (2002=100).
The manufacturing index was unchanged at 95.6. (See table B-5.)

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Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls increased by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent, in September to $17.57,
seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings also grew by 0.4 percent over the
month, to $593.87. Over the year, both average hourly and weekly earnings rose
by 4.1 percent. (See table B-3.)

______________________________

The Employment Situation for October 2007 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, November 2, at 8:30 A.M. (EDT).

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———————————————————————–
| |
| Preliminary Estimates of Benchmark Revisions |
| to the Establishment Survey |
| |
| In accordance with usual practice, the Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| is announcing its preliminary estimates of the upcoming annual bench- |
| mark revision to the establishment survey employment series. The |
| final benchmark revision will be issued on February 1, 2008, with |
| the publication of the January 2008 Employment Situation news release.|
| |
| Each year, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey employ- |
| ment estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment |
| for the month of March derived from state unemployment insurance tax |
| records that nearly all employers are required to file. For national |
| CES employment series, the annual benchmark revisions over the last |
| 10 years have averaged plus or minus two-tenths of one percent at the |
| total nonfarm level. The preliminary estimate of the benchmark re- |
| vision for March 2007 is -297,000 (-0.2 percent) for total nonfarm |
| employment. |
| |
| Table 1 shows the March 2007 preliminary benchmark revisions by |
| major industry sector. As is typically the case, many of the indivi- |
| dual industry series show larger percentage revisions than the total |
| nonfarm series, primarily because statistical sampling error is |
| greater at more detailed levels than at a total level. |
| |
| |
| |
| Table 1. National Current Employment Statistics March 2007 prelimi- |
| nary benchmark revisions by major industry sector |
| ———————————————————————-|
| |Benchmark revision|Percent benchmark |
| Industry | (in thousands) | revision |
| ——————————–|——————|——————|
| Total nonfarm ………………| -297,000 | -0.2 |
| Total private …………….| -217,000 | -.2 |
| Natural resources and | | |
| mining ……………….| 0 | .0 |
| Construction ……………| -8,000 | -.1 |
| Manufacturing …………..| -116,000 | -.8 |
| Trade, transportation, | | |
| and utilities …………| 149,000 | .6 |
| Information …………….| -63,000 | -2.1 |
| Financial activities …….| -109,000 | -1.3 |
| Professional and business | | |
| services ……………..| 59,000 | .3 |
| Education and health | | |
| services ……………..| -36,000 | -.2 |
| Leisure and hospitality…..| -111,000 | -.9 |
| Other services ………….| 18,000 | .3 |
| Government ……………….| -80,000 | -.4 |
|———————————————————————–|
| |
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