September 2001 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.

Payroll employment fell by 199,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Sharp job losses continued in manufacturing, and employment also fell in services, wholesale trade, and retail trade.

The terrorist attacks of September 11 occurred during the reference periods for the Bureau's monthly establishment and household surveys. In addition to the tragic loss of life, the attacks caused many businesses to shut down for one or more days. In the establishment survey, however, persons paid for any part of the reference period are considered employed. Similarly, in the household survey, persons working during any part of the reference week, as well as those temporarily absent from their jobs, are considered employed. Thus, it is likely that the events of September 11 had little effect on the September employment and unemployment counts.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 7.0 million in September, seasonally adjusted, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent. The jobless rate had been about 4.5 percent from April through July of this year and was 3.9 percent a year ago. The unemployment rates for each of the major worker groups--adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.4 percent), teenagers (14.7 percent), whites (4.3 percent), blacks (8.7 percent), and Hispanics (6.4 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment rose by about 800,000 in September to 135.2 million, seasonally adjusted. This follows a decline in August of even larger magnitude. Since January, employment has fallen by about 800,000, and the employment-population ratio (63.7 percent in September) has declined by 0.8 percentage point. (See table A-1.)

The civilian labor force rose to 142.2 million in September, and the labor force participation rate increased to 67.0 percent.

The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons rose by about 860,000 in September to 4.2 million, seasonally adjusted. These persons indicated that they would like to work full time but worked part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. Most of the September increase was among persons whose hours were cut due to slack work or business conditions, and probably reflects the effect of the terrorist attacks on September 11, as businesses closed or were unable to operate at usual capacity. (See table A-4.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.3 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in September, up from 1.2 million a year earlier. These were people who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers was 280,000, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 199,000 in September to 132.2 million, seasonally adjusted. This was the largest job loss since February 1991 and followed a decline of 84,000 (as revised) in August. Since March, net job losses have totaled nearly half a million. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, the downward trend in manufacturing employment continued, as factories lost 93,000 jobs in September. This was the 14th consecutive month of factory job losses, bringing the decline in employment since July 2000 to 1.1 million. In durable goods manufacturing, large employment declines continued in both industrial machinery (20,000) and electrical equipment (18,000). Since July 2000, employment in industrial machinery has declined by 8 percent and employment in electrical equipment by 11 percent. In nondurable goods manufacturing, employment continued to decline in September in a number of industries including printing and pub- lishing and apparel.

Employment in construction was little changed over the month and has shown no net growth in recent months. Mining employment was unchanged in September. It had risen by 21,000--due largely to increases in oil and gas extraction--during the prior 8 months.

Reflecting the slowdown in manufacturing, wholesale trade employment continued to decline, down by 21,000 in September. Since its last peak in November 2000, the industry has lost 80,000 jobs, with losses concentrated in durable goods distribution in most of those months. In September, however, employment in nondurable goods distribution also experienced a sizable decline.

Retail trade employment declined for the second straight month; in September, the largest losses were in eating and drinking places, apparel stores, and food stores. Both apparel stores and food stores have been on a declining trend in recent months. Employment in eating and drinking places showed no net growth in the third quarter.

The services industry lost 41,000 jobs in September. A primary source of job growth for several decades, services has shown no net gain in employment since March. Business services shed 39,000 jobs in September, matching its average monthly decline so far in 2001; most of the decline this year has been in help supply, which continued to reduce its payrolls in September. Following 2 months of declines, computer services posted a small job gain. Amusement and recreation services experienced a large employment decline in September (26,000). Job growth continued in health services; the industry added 29,000 jobs in September, about half of which was in hospitals. Employment in health services has increased by 230,000 thus far this year.

Employment in finance, insurance, and real estate increased by 14,000 in September. Job growth in security brokerages, insurance, and real estate, however, reflects fewer seasonal reductions than usual following weak hiring in these industries earlier in the year.

Employment in transportation and public utilities edged down in September, following a very large decline in August. So far this year, the industry has lost about 40,000 jobs. Employment has been on a downward trend for much of this year in trucking and air transportation and, in recent months, in com- munications. Employment in government was little changed over the month.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour in September to 34.1 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.2 hour to 40.5 hours. Manufacturing overtime was down by 0.1 hour to 3.9 hours. The weekly hours series measure hours paid rather than hours actually worked. Thus, the hours missed due to the terrorist attacks would still be counted if the workers were paid for those hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.3 percent in September to 149.7 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The index is down by 1.6 percent since January. The manufacturing index fell by 1.2 percent to 95.5 in September and has fallen by 10.7 percent since July 2000. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 3 cents in September to $14.44, seasonally adjusted. This follows a gain of 7 cents (as revised) in August. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.5 percent in September to $492.40. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 4.3 percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.4 percent. (See table B-3.)