October 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.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in October, and unemployment was unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment rose by 210,000, with the largest gains occurring in services and retail trade. Manufacturing employment was about unchanged, following a large decline in September. The unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in October, in line with both the August and September figures.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

About 6.9 million persons were unemployed in October, and the unemployment rate was 5.2 percent. Both measures were unchanged from September. Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates were essentially unchanged for adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (4.4 percent), blacks (10.8 percent), and Hispanics (8.0 percent). (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment was 127.6 million in October, little different from the September level. The employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population 16 years and over that was employed--was essentially unchanged in October at 63.4 percent, but was half a percentage point higher than a year earlier. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who held more than one job was 8.4 million (not seasonally adjusted) in October. These multiple jobholders comprised 6.5 percent of the total employed. (See table A-9.)

The civilian labor force, at 134.6 million in October, was little different from the previous month. Since October 1995, the labor force has grown by 2.1 million. (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 October--that is, they wanted and were available for work but had stopped looking for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months. Of this total, 374,000 were discouraged workers--persons who were not looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. (See table A-9.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in October to 120.2 million, after seasonal adjustment, following a small decline in September. The increase was about in line with the average monthly gain so far this year. Employment in the private sector rose by 250,000 in October, following a very small gain in September. The October advance was well above this year's monthly average of 194,000. The October increase was concentrated in the services and retail trade industries. (See table B-1.)

The services industry added 119,000 jobs in October, the largest gain since May. Amusement and recreation employment rose by 38,000; because of weaker-than-usual summer hiring this year, October layoffs were relatively light, resulting in a large gain, after seasonal adjustment. There was an increase of 21,000 jobs in private educational services, offsetting a seasonally adjusted decline in September. Health services employment was strong in October, as it had been in September; hospitals have added 20,000 jobs since August. Business services continued to show weakness in October; computer and data processing services added 14,000 jobs over the month, but employment in personnel supply services fell by a like amount.

Following little growth in August and September, retail trade added 62,000 jobs in October, with gains fairly widespread. Employment rose markedly in food stores (19,000) and department stores (17,000), following losses in the prior month. Wholesale trade added 19,000 jobs; the increase was heavily concentrated in the nondurable goods distribution component.

Employment in both finance and real estate rose sharply over the month. Within finance, job growth was strong in commercial banks. Seasonal declines in real estate were smaller than usual in October. As a result, the industry added 8,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Employment in transportation increased by 10,000, reversing a similar decline in the previous month. A job gain of 9,000 in air transportation offset a decline in trucking and warehousing, which has shown a net decline of 22,000 jobs in the past 4 months.

Government employment fell by 40,000 in October, and has declined by 107,000 over the past 2 months. These declines partially reversed a combined increase in July and August of 160,000. The fluctuations in government employment are largely due to changing seasonal hiring patterns in state and local education. Federal employment continued its long-term downward trend.

Manufacturing employment was about unchanged in October, following a substantial decline in September. Job losses continued in motor vehicles and equipment. Employment also continued to decline in electronic equipment, where losses have totaled 10,000 over the past 3 months. Over the same period, apparel lost 18,000 jobs. These declines were offset by increases in several industries. Industrial machinery recovered half of the jobs lost in September, but still shows no net gain for 1996. An increase of 6,000 jobs in aircraft in October primarily reflected the return of workers from a strike. Lumber, printing and publishing, and chemicals also added jobs in October; all of these industries have had fluctuating movements over the past several months.

Construction employment increased by 10,000 in October. Gains have averaged 9,000 a month since July, compared with an average monthly gain of about 29,000 during the first 7 months of this year.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.4 hour in October to 34.3 hours, seasonally adjusted, nearly reversing increases of the prior 2 months. The manufacturing workweek fell by 0.2 hour, to 41.6 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 decreased by 0.9 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis, to 136.8 (1982=100) in October, as the decline in the average workweek more than offset the employment increase. The manufacturing index fell by 0.4 percent to 105.7. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls were unchanged in October at $11.91 (seasonally adjusted) following a gain of 10 cents over the prior 2 months. Average weekly earnings decreased by 1.2 percent. Over the past year, average hourly earnings rose by 3.1 percent, and average weekly earnings rose by 2.5 percent. (See table B-3.)