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Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Statement of Erica L. Groshen Commissioner Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday, September 6, 2013 Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 169,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent. Over the prior 12 months, job gains averaged 184,000 per month. In August, employment rose in retail trade and health care, while information lost jobs. Retail trade added 44,000 jobs in August. Job gains occurred in clothing stores (+14,000), food and beverage stores (+12,000), general merchandise stores (+9,000), and electronics and appliance stores (+4,000). Over the past 12 months, retail trade employment has increased by 393,000. Health care employment rose by 33,000 in August. Within health care, ambulatory care services, such as doctors’ offices and home health care services, added 27,000 jobs. Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in August (+23,000). Over the past 12 months, this industry has added 614,000 jobs. Employment in temporary help services changed little in August. Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up (+21,000). Over the past 12 months, employment in food services and drinking places has increased by 354,000. Employment also continued to rise in wholesale trade in August (+8,000). This industry has added 83,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Within manufacturing, employment in motor vehicles and parts was up by 19,000 over the month after decreasing by 10,000 in July. Auto manufacturers laid off more workers for model changeover in July than in recent years. The return of laid-off workers contributed to the increase in August. Over the past 12 months, auto manufacturers have added 34,000 jobs. In August, employment declined in information due to a loss of 22,000 in the motion picture and sound recording industry, where employment can be volatile from month to month. Employment in other major industries showed little or no change over the month. Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents in August. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 52 cents, or 2.2 percent. From July 2012 to July 2013, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose by 2.0 percent. Turning now to our survey of households, the unemployment rate, at 7.3 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 11.3 million, were both little changed in August. The jobless rate is down from 8.1 percent a year ago. The labor force participation rate--the share of the population that was working or looking for work--edged down to 63.2 percent in August. The employment-population ratio was about unchanged at 58.6 percent. The number of involuntary part-time workers fell by 334,000 to 7.9 million in August. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but had their hours cut or were unable to find full-time work. On net, involuntary part-time employment has changed little over the past 12 months. Among persons who were neither working nor looking for work in August, 2.3 million were classified as marginally attached to the labor force, down by 219,000 from a year earlier. These individuals had not looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, were available for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 months. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, was 866,000 in August, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 169,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent.