Payroll employment up 148,000 in September 2013

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 148,000 in September, with gains in construction, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing. Over the prior 12 months, employment growth averaged 185,000 per month.

In September, employment in professional and business services continued to trend up (+32,000). Over the prior 12 months, employment growth in this industry averaged 52,000 per month. Employment in temporary help services continued to trend up in September (+20,000).

Transportation and warehousing added 23,000 jobs in September. Most of the increase occurred in transit and ground passenger transportation (+18,000). Employment in construction rose by 20,000 in September, after showing little change over the prior 6 months.

Employment in wholesale trade rose by 16,000 in September. Over the prior 12 months, this industry added an average of 7,000 jobs per month. Within retail trade, job gains occurred in building material and garden supply stores (+5,000) and in automobile dealers (+4,000).

Employment in health care changed little (+7,000) in September. Thus far in 2013, health care has added an average of 19,000 jobs per month, compared with an average monthly increase of 27,000 in 2012.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, manufacturing, information, and government, showed little change in September.

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 2013," (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL‑13‑2035. More charts featuring CES employment data can be found in Current Employment Statistics Highlights: September 2013.