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Economic News Release
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Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release

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
                                
                         John M. Galvin
                       Acting Commissioner
                   Bureau of Labor Statistics
                                
                     Friday, October 5, 2012


     The unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to
7.8 percent in September, and nonfarm payroll employment
increased by 114,000.  In 2012, job gains have averaged 146,000
per month, compared with 153,000 per month in 2011.
     
     In September, health care employment rose by 44,000, largely
in ambulatory health care services.  Over the last 12 months,
health care employment has risen by 295,000.
     
     Transportation and warehousing employment increased by
17,000 in September.  Employment in this industry has risen by
104,000 over the year.
     
     Manufacturing employment edged down over the month
(-16,000), with declines in computer and electronic products
(-6,000) and in printing and related activities (-3,000).  On
net, manufacturing employment has been unchanged since April.
     
     Employment in temporary help services was essentially
unchanged in September and August.  During the prior 12 months,
the industry had added an average of 20,000 jobs per month.
Employment in financial activities edged up in September
(+13,000), reflecting modest gains in credit intermediation
(+6,000) and real estate (+7,000).  Employment in other major
industries changed little in September.
     
     Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls rose by 7 cents in September to $23.58.  Over the past
12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 percent.
From August 2011 to August 2012, the Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.7 percent.
     
     Turning to measures from the survey of households, the
unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 7.8
percent in September.  For the first 8 months of the year, the
rate held in a narrow range of 8.1 to 8.3 percent.  The number of
unemployed persons declined by 456,000 to 12.1 million in
September.  There was a large decrease (-206,000) in unemployment
among 20- to 24-year-olds.  Among all unemployed persons, the
proportion who had been jobless for 27 weeks or longer was 40.1
percent, essentially unchanged from the prior month but down from
44.7 percent a year earlier.
     
     Total employment, as measured by the household survey, rose
by 873,000 in September, following 3 months of little change.  On
a month-to-month basis, the household survey employment measure
is more variable than the payroll employment measure due to the
smaller household survey sample.  Over longer periods, the
changes in household and payroll survey employment tend to track
more closely.
     
     In September, employment of persons age 20 to 24 years rose
by 368,000.  The September gain for this group follows a decline
in August.  Over the 2-month period, employment for 20- to 24-
year-olds was little changed.
     
     The employment-population ratio rose 0.4 percentage point in
September to 58.7 percent, following 2 months in which the ratio
had edged down.  The overall trend in the employment-population
ratio for this year has been flat.  The labor force participation
rate was little changed in September.  Like the employment-
population ratio, the labor force participation rate has been
essentially flat in 2012.
     
     Among the employed, the number of involuntary part time
workers increased by 582,000 to 8.6 million in September.
     
     In summary, the unemployment rate declined from 8.1 to 7.8
percent, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 114,000.
     
     

Last Modified Date: October 05, 2012