Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until
8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, October 7, 2022.
Statement of
William W. Beach
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday, October 7, 2022
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000 in
September, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent.
Notable job growth occurred in leisure and hospitality and in
health care. Monthly job growth has averaged 420,000 thus far in
2022, compared with 562,000 per month in 2021.
Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 83,000
in September, in line with its average monthly gain for the
first 8 months of this year. Food services and drinking places
added 60,000 jobs in September. Employment in leisure and
hospitality is below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 1.1
million, or 6.7 percent.
Health care added 60,000 jobs in September, with growth in
ambulatory health care services (+28,000) and hospitals
(+28,000). Health care has returned to its February 2020
employment level.
Employment in professional and business services continued
its upward trend in September (+46,000). Thus far in 2022, job
growth in this industry has averaged 72,000 per month. In
September, employment in temporary help services continued to
trend up (+27,000). Job gains occurred in investigation and
security services (+9,000) and in scientific research and
development services (+5,000). Job losses occurred in business
support services (-12,000), legal services (-5,000), and
advertising and related services (-5,000).
Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in September
(+22,000), with job gains in motor vehicles and parts (+8,000),
fabricated metal products (+6,000), and electrical equipment and
appliances (+3,000). Printing and related support activities
lost 4,000 jobs over the month. Manufacturing employment has
increased by an average of 36,000 per month thus far in 2022.
In September, employment in construction continued to trend
up (+19,000), in line with average monthly job growth over the
first 8 months of the year. Specialty trade contractors added
18,000 jobs in September.
Wholesale trade employment continued to trend up in
September (+11,000). Thus far in 2022, the industry has added an
average of 18,000 jobs per month.
In September, employment in financial activities changed
little (-8,000). Declines in insurance carriers and related
activities (-9,000) and nondepository credit intermediation
(-7,000) were partially offset by a job gain in depository
credit intermediation (+5,000).
In September, employment changed little in transportation
and warehousing (-8,000). A job loss of 11,000 in truck
transportation was partially offset by a gain of 3,000 in air
transportation.
Employment showed little change over the month in other
major industries, including mining, retail trade, information,
other services, and government.
In September, the average workweek for all private-sector
workers was 34.5 hours for the fourth month in a row. The
average workweek for manufacturing was unchanged at 40.3 hours.
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls increased by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.46 in
September. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 5.0 percent.
Turning to the labor market indicators from the household
survey, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent in
September, returning to its July level. The number of unemployed
people edged down to 5.8 million in September.
In September, the unemployment rate for Hispanics declined
to 3.8 percent. The jobless rates for adult men (3.3 percent),
adult women (3.1 percent), teenagers (11.4 percent), Whites (3.1
percent), Blacks (5.8 percent), and Asians (2.5 percent) showed
little change.
Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers
decreased by 173,000 to 1.2 million in September. This decline
offset an increase in the prior month.
By duration of unemployment, the number of people
unemployed for 27 weeks or more was little changed at 1.1
million in September. These long-term unemployed accounted for
18.5 percent of all unemployed people.
The labor force participation rate, at 62.3 percent,
changed little in September, and the employment-population ratio
was unchanged at 60.1 percent. Both measures are below their
February 2020 values by 1.1 percentage points.
In September, the number of people working part time for
economic reasons declined by 306,000 to 3.8 million.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently
want a job was little changed at 5.8 million in September. This
measure remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million.
Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a
job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor
force, at 1.6 million, was little changed in September. (People
who are marginally attached to the labor force had not actively
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, rose by 119,000 to 485,000 in September.
Looking at the supplemental pandemic-related measures from
the household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally
adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because
of the pandemic was 5.2 percent in September, down from 6.5
percent in the prior month. In May 2020, the first month that
these data were collected, 35.4 percent of employed people
teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic. These data refer
only to employed people who teleworked or worked at home for pay
at some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the
pandemic; they do not include all instances of telework.
In September, the number of people who reported that they
had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost
business due to the pandemic was 1.4 million, down from 1.9
million a month earlier. This measure is down from 49.8 million
in May 2020. (These individuals did not work at all or worked
fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to the
pandemic.) Among those who reported in September that they were
unable to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost
business, 21.4 percent received at least some pay from their
employer for the hours not worked, essentially unchanged from
August.
Among those not in the labor force in September, 452,000
people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic,
little changed from the prior month. In May 2020, the first month
these data were collected, 9.7 million people were prevented
from looking for work due to the pandemic. (To be counted as
unemployed, by definition, individuals must either be actively
searching for work or on temporary layoff.)
These supplemental data come from questions added to the
household survey from May 2020 through September 2022 to help
gauge the effects of the pandemic on the labor market. New
questions will be asked beginning in October 2022. More
information is available online at www.bls.gov/cps/effects-of-
the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic.htm.
Hurricane Ian had no discernible effect on the employment
and unemployment data for September. Household survey data
collection was completed before the storm made landfall in
Florida, and establishment survey data collection rates were
within normal ranges nationally and for the affected areas.
In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000
in September, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5
percent.
United States Department of Labor
