September 2003 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.

The unemployment rate remained at 6.1 percent in September, and total nonfarm payroll employment was little changed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of jobs in manu- facturing declined at a slower pace than in recent months, while employment in temporary help services continued to trend upward.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons, 9.0 million, was about unchanged in September, and the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, the same as in August.

Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.7 percent), adult women (5.3 percent), teenagers (17.5 percent), whites (5.3 percent), blacks (11.2 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.5 percent)--were little changed in September. The unemployment rate for Asians was 6.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In September, there were 2.1 million unemployed persons who had been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer, representing 23.2 percent of the total unemployed. Since November 2001, the proportion of long-term unem- ployed has increased by about 9 percentage points. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Both total employment (137.6 million) and the employment-population ratio (62.0 percent) were about unchanged in September. The employment- population ratio was down by 1.0 percentage point over the year. Both the civilian labor force, 146.5 million, and the labor force participation rate, 66.1 percent, also were little changed in September. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons rose in September to 5.0 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. The total number of persons at work part time, including both the economic and noneconomic categories, was essentially unchanged at 24.0 million. (See table A-5.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In September, 1.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, how- ever, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Of the 1.5 million, 388,000 were discouraged workers--persons who were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The number of discouraged workers in September was about the same as a year earlier. The other 1.2 million marginally attached had not searched for work because they were in school or had family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (+57,000) in September at 129.9 million. Over the month, manufacturing job losses continued, although at a slower pace. Professional and business services added jobs, as temporary help employment increased for the fifth consecu- tive month. (See table B-1.)

Manufacturing employment decreased by 29,000 in September. Although small declines occurred throughout most of the sector, September's loss was below the average for the prior 12 months (-54,000). Most of the easing in September occurred among durable goods industries.

Professional and business services added 66,000 jobs in September; half of the gain occurred in temporary help services. Since April, temporary help has added 147,000 jobs. Architectural and engineering services employment increased by 9,000 in September.

Health care and social assistance had a small employment increase over the month (15,000). Job gains in this industry averaged 23,000 a month during the first half of this year, compared with a monthly average of 13,000 since June.

Within transportation and warehousing, air transportation added 3,000 jobs in September. Employment in retail trade was little changed; however, employment increased in two of its component industries--motor vehicle and parts dealers (8,000) and building material and garden supply stores (7,000).

Construction employment continued to trend up. Since February, the industry has added 137,000 jobs, with most of the gains among special trade contractors.

Employment in financial activities remains on an upward trend, though at a reduced pace. For the past 4 months, job gains have averaged about 5,000 per month, compared with 16,000 per month from August 2002 to May 2003.

Employment in government was little changed over the month. Seasonal hiring was weak in local education, and, after seasonal adjustment, employment decreased by 44,000 in September. However, the decline was partially offset by a gain of 17,000 jobs in local government, excluding education.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged over the month at 33.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.2 hour in September to 40.4 hours, seasonally adjusted. Manufacturing overtime also rose by 0.2 hour to 4.2 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls held at 98.6 in September (2002=100). The manufacturing index increased by 0.2 percent over the month to 94.2. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls were down by 1 cent over the month to $15.45, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings were down by 0.1 percent in September to $520.67. Over the year, average hourly earnings grew by 2.7 percent and average weekly earnings increased by 2.1 percent. (See table B-3.)