Payroll employment increases in September 2012

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 114,000 in September. In 2012, employment growth has averaged 146,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011.

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In September, employment increased in health care and in transportation and warehousing but changed little in most other major industries.

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Health care added 44,000 jobs in September. Job gains continued in ambulatory health care services (+30,000) and hospitals (+8,000). Over the past year, employment in health care has risen by 295,000.

In September, employment increased by 17,000 in transportation and warehousing. Employment in financial activities edged up in September (+13,000), reflecting modest job growth in credit intermediation (+6,000) and real estate (+7,000).

Manufacturing employment edged down in September (−16,000). On net, manufacturing employment has been unchanged since April. In September, job losses occurred in computer and electronic products (−6,000) and in printing and related activities (−3,000).

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and government, showed little change over the month.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — September 2012," (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL-12-1981. More charts featuring CES employment data can be found in Current Employment Statistics Highlights: September 2012 (PDF).