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Employment increases in October 2012

November 05, 2012

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 171,000 in October. Employment growth has averaged 157,000 per month thus far in 2012, about the same as the average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011. In October, employment rose in professional and business services, health care, and retail trade.

Hover mouse pointer over columns to view data.

Chart Image
Chart Data

1-month change in nonfarm payroll employment, by industry, seasonally adjusted, January 2012-October 2012
Month	Mining and logging	Construction	Manufacturing	Trade, transportation, and utilities	Information	Financial activities	Professional and business services	Education and health services	Leisure and hospitality	Other services	Government
Jan 2012	8000	18000	52000	58000	-17000	1000	79000	31000	39000	8000	-2000
Feb 2012	7000	-1000	30000	7000	8000	7000	89000	71000	45000	-9000	5000
Mar 2012	0	-14000	42000	-3000	-5000	13000	18000	51000	43000	2000	-4000
Apr 2012	1000	-7000	10000	19000	1000	6000	45000	15000	-4000	-1000	-17000
May 2012	4000	-32000	13000	52000	4000	11000	18000	44000	-4000	6000	-29000
Jun 2012	-2000	4000	7000	-4000	-7000	3000	41000	3000	14000	4000	-18000
Jul 2012	-1000	3000	18000	20000	8000	1000	41000	40000	24000	9000	18000
Aug 2012	-4000	3000	-13000	40000	-3000	7000	24000	31000	49000	0	58000
Sep 2012	-1000	2000	-14000	32000	-9000	14000	8000	50000	36000	10000	20000
Oct 2012	-9000	17000	13000	45000	1000	4000	51000	25000	28000	9000	-13000

1-month change in nonfarm payroll employment, by industry, seasonally adjusted, January 2012–October 2012
Month	Total nonfarm	Mining and logging	Construction	Manufacturing	Trade, transportation, and utilities	Information
Jan 2012	275,000	8,000	18,000	52,000	58,000	-17,000
Feb 2012	259,000	7,000	-1,000	30,000	7,000	8,000
Mar 2012	143,000	0	-14,000	42,000	-3,000	-5,000
Apr 2012	68,000	1,000	-7,000	10,000	19,000	1,000
May 2012	87,000	4,000	-32,000	13,000	52,000	4,000
Jun 2012	45,000	-2,000	4,000	7,000	-4,000	-7,000
Jul 2012	181,000	-1,000	3,000	18,000	20,000	8,000
Aug 2012	192,000	-4,000	3,000	-13,000	40,000	-3,000
Sep 2012 (p)	148,000	-1,000	2,000	-14,000	32,000	-9,000
Oct 2012 (p)	171,000	-9,000	17,000	13,000	45,000	1,000
Footnotes: (p) Preliminary

1-month change in nonfarm payroll employment, by industry, seasonally adjusted, January 2012–October 2012 (continued)
Month	Financial activities	Professional and business services	Education and health services	Leisure and hospitality	Other services	Government
Jan 2012	1,000	79,000	31,000	39,000	8,000	-2,000
Feb 2012	7,000	89,000	71,000	45,000	-9,000	5,000
Mar 2012	13,000	18,000	51,000	43,000	2,000	-4,000
Apr 2012	6,000	45,000	15,000	-4,000	-1,000	-17,000
May 2012	11,000	18,000	44,000	-4,000	6,000	-29,000
Jun 2012	3,000	41,000	3,000	14,000	4,000	-18,000
Jul 2012	1,000	41,000	40,000	24,000	9,000	18,000
Aug 2012	7,000	24,000	31,000	49,000	0	58,000
Sep 2012 (p)	14,000	8,000	50,000	36,000	10,000	20,000
Oct 2012 (p)	4,000	51,000	25,000	28,000	9,000	-13,000
Footnotes: (p) Preliminary

These data are featured in the TED article, Employment increases in October 2012.

Professional and business services added 51,000 jobs in October, with gains in services to buildings and dwellings and in computer systems design. Employment in temporary help (a component of professional and business services) changed little in October and has shown little net change over the past 3 months.

Retail trade added 36,000 jobs in October, with gains in motor vehicles and parts dealers, and in furniture and home furnishings stores. Retail trade has added 82,000 jobs over the past 3 months, with most of the gain occurring in motor vehicles and parts dealers, clothing and accessories stores, and miscellaneous store retailers.

Health care added 31,000 jobs in October. Job gains continued in ambulatory health care services and hospitals.

Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up (+28,000) over the month.

Employment in construction edged up in October (+17,000). The gain was concentrated in specialty trade contractors.

Manufacturing employment changed little in October. On net, manufacturing employment has shown little change since April.

Mining lost 9,000 jobs in October, with most of the decline occurring in support activities for mining. Since May of this year, employment in mining has decreased by 17,000.

Employment in other major industries, including wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and government, showed little change over the month.

Both the unemployment rate (7.9 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (12.3 million) were essentially unchanged in October, following declines in September. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks increased to 14.3 percent in October, while the rates for adult men (7.3 percent), adult women (7.2 percent), teenagers (23.7 percent), whites (7.0 percent), and Hispanics (10.0 percent) showed little or no change.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — October 2012," (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL-12-2164. More charts featuring employment data can be found in Current Employment Statistics Highlights: October 2012 (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment increases in October 2012 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2012/ted_20121105.htm (visited March 12, 2026).

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