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
                                
                           Keith Hall                                
                          Commissioner
                   Bureau of Labor Statistics
                                
                     Friday, October 8, 2010

     Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-95,000) in
September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent.
Private-sector employment continued to trend up modestly
(+64,000).  Government employment continued to fall (-159,000),
partly reflecting the loss of 77,000 temporary Census 2010 jobs.
In September, 6,000 temporary decennial census workers remained
on the federal government payroll.  Elsewhere in the government
sector, local government employment fell by 76,000.
     
     Within the private sector, health care employment continued
to expand (+24,000) in September, primarily in ambulatory health
care services.  Employment services added 28,000 jobs; most of
the gain was in temporary help services.  Employment in food
services rose by 34,000 over the month.  Other major service-
providing industries showed little change.
     
     Manufacturing employment was little changed (-6,000) in
September and, on net, has shown essentially no change since May.
In the first 5 months of this year, factory job growth had
averaged 27,000 per month.  Elsewhere in the goods-producing
sector, construction employment edged down by 21,000 in September
but, on net, has changed little since February.  Mining
employment continued to trend up in September.
     
     Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls were up by 1 cent over the month to $22.67.  Over the
past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.7
percent.  From August 2009 to August 2010, the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.2 percent.
     
     Most measures from the survey of households showed little or
no movement over the month.  The jobless rate was unchanged at
9.6 percent.  Of the 14.8 million unemployed, 41.7 percent had
been jobless for 27 weeks or more in September, about the same as
in August.  The employment-population ratio held at 58.5 percent
in September.  Among the employed, however, the number of
involuntary part-time workers rose by 612,000 over the month to a
series high of 9.5 million.
     
     In keeping with standard practice, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics is announcing the preliminary estimate for the next
benchmark revision to payroll employment.  The benchmark process
annually revises the payroll survey’s sample-based employment
estimates to incorporate universe employment counts derived
primarily from unemployment insurance tax reports.  Preliminary
tabulations indicate that the estimate of total nonfarm payroll
employment for March 2010 will require a downward revision of
approximately 366,000, or three-tenths of one percent.  The
average of the absolute values of the benchmark revisions over
the prior 10 years is three-tenths of one percent.
     
     The final benchmark revision will be incorporated into the
payroll survey with the publication of January data on February
4, 2011.  Historical data series will be revised at that time.
     
     In summary, total nonfarm payroll employment edged down in
September.  Private-sector employment continued on a modest
upward trend, while government employment decreased.  The
unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent.