September 1996 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Both unemployment and nonfarm payroll employment were essentially unchanged in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The jobless rate was 5.2 percent in September; it had been 5.1 percent in August. Payroll employment fell in manufacturing and local government in September, and growth slowed in several other major industries. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

About 7.0 million persons were unemployed in September and the unemployment rate was 5.2 percent. Both measures were about the same as they had been in August. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men rose by 0.3 percentage point to 4.5 percent, while the rate for teenagers fell to 15.6 percent. (See table A-1.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, at 127.4 million in September, continued to trend upward. The proportion of the population 16 years and over that was employed (the employment-population ratio) remained at 63.3 percent. The number of employed persons has increased by about 2.3 million over the past year, and the employment-population ratio has risen by half a percentage point. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who held more than one job in September was 7.8 million (not seasonally adjusted). These multiple jobholders comprised 6.1 percent of the total employed. This multiple jobholding rate was the same for men and women. (See table A-9.)

The civilian labor force grew by 455,000 in September to 134.3 million, more than offsetting a decline in the previous month. The labor force has grown by 1.8 million since September 1995. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in September--that is, they wanted and were available for work but had stopped looking for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months. Of this total, discouraged workers--those who were no longer looking specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them- -numbered 391,000. (See table A-9.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment was about unchanged in September at 120.0 million, after seasonal adjustment, as private sector employment growth slowed markedly and government employment declined. (See table B-1.)

Manufacturing employment declined by 57,000 in September; industry losses now total 331,000 since the most recent peak in March 1995. Job losses were widespread in September, with the largest declines occurring in industrial machinery and transportation equipment. In the latter industry, there has been no net job growth since June. Within nondurable goods, job losses continued in several industries, including food and kindred products, printing and publishing, and apparel.

Construction employment increased by only 9,000 in September. Growth in the industry has slowed considerably in the past 2 months, following relatively strong gains over the first 7 months of the year. The long-term decline in mining employment continued.

Within the service-producing sector, government employment fell by 81,000 in September. This was due mainly to a seasonally adjusted decline of 67,000 in local education, following unusually large gains in the prior 3 months. Changing seasonal patterns due to the earlier start of the school year and the trend toward year-round schools have shifted some of the seasonal job growth in education to the summer months. Despite this drop in September, employment in local education still has expanded by 95,000 since May. Losses continued in federal government employment, where job declines have approached a quarter million since the most recent employment peak in May 1992.

Employment growth in services slowed further in September. The increase of 54,000 was just under half of the average monthly gain recorded in the first half of the year and smaller than the modest increases of July and August. Employment growth in September was weak in business and private educational services, and employment declined in child day care. In contrast, employment in health services grew by 30,000, following 3 months of sluggishness.

Retail trade added only 22,000 jobs in September, half the average monthly gain of the past year. Employment declined in general merchandise and apparel stores and grew moderately in eating and drinking places. While the pace of job growth in wholesale trade has slowed considerably since March, the September increase of 5,000 was especially small.

Employment in finance, insurance, and real estate increased modestly in September. Employment growth accelerated in insurance, but employment in finance and real estate was little changed over the month. Gains in transportation and public utilities employment were relatively small for the third consecutive month. Within transportation, there was a small increase in air transportation, but employment in trucking and warehousing was flat over the month and has shown no net growth since late last year.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose 0.2 hour in September to 34.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek edged up 0.1 hour to 41.8 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 4.5 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose 0.7 percent in September to 138.0 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted, largely reflecting the increase in the average workweek. The manufacturing index edged down 0.2 percent to 106.1. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose 6 cents in September to $11.92, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 1.1 percent to $413.62. Over the past year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.5 percent, and average weekly earnings have risen by 4.4 percent. (See table B-3.)