September 2005 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 was little changed (-35,000) in September, and the unemployment rate rose to 5.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The measures of employment and unemployment reported in this news release reflect both the impact of Hurri- cane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast in late August, and ongoing labor market trends. Over the 12 months ending in August, payroll employment grew by an average of 194,000 a month and the unemployment rate trended downward.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.7 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.1 percent, rose in September. They had been trending down in recent months and remain lower than a year earlier. (See table A-1.)

The unemployment rates for most major worker groups--adult men (4.5 percent), adult women (4.6 percent), whites (4.5 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.5 percent) rose in September. The jobless rates for teenagers (15.8 percent) and blacks (9.4 percent) showed little change. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In September, the number of persons unemployed due to job loss rose by 234,000 to 3.7 million. The number of newly unemployed--those who were unemployed less than 5 weeks--grew by 193,000 to 2.7 million. Both of these numbers had been trending down in recent months. (See tables A-8 and A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment (142.4 million) and the employment-population ratio (62.8 percent) were little changed in September. The labor force participation rate (66.2 percent) was unchanged over the month. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In September, 1.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, about the same as a year earlier. 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, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, at 362,000 in September, was little changed 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. The other 1.1 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in September (-35,000), seasonally adjusted. This followed job gains of 277,000 in July and 211,000 in August (as revised). Hurricane Katrina caused job losses in September among many industries in the affected areas. At the national level, these storm-related losses may have been offset or exacerbated in some industries by developments in the rest of the country. (State and metropolitan area payroll data, including information by industry, will be released by BLS on October 21.) (See table B-1.)

Retail trade lost 88,000 jobs in September, with declines spread across several component industries. Over the prior 12 months, employment in retail trade had increased by 18,000 per month on average. In September, there were job losses in clothing and accessories stores (-28,000), sporting goods stores (-17,000), and building material and garden supply stores (-9,000). Over the month, food and beverage stores lost 30,000 jobs, much of which was due to store closings unrelated to the hurricane.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality industry fell by 80,000 in September, partly due to the hurricane. Employment in food services, which includes restaurants and drinking places, decreased by 54,000 over the month, after averaging monthly gains of 23,000 jobs during the 12 months ending in August. Amusements, gambling, and recreation lost 19,000 jobs in September.

In September, manufacturing employment was down by 27,000 and has declined by 118,000 over the year. The September job decline was concentrated in trans- portation equipment, reflecting a strike of 18,000 workers in the aerospace industry. Employment declines in electrical equipment and appliances (-4,000) and paper and paper products (-3,000) were offset by a gain in machinery manu- facturing (7,000).

Employment in transit and ground passenger transportation declined by 8,000 in September. Air transportation lost 6,000 jobs over the month; about half of the job loss was due to strike activity in the industry. Truck trans- portation employment was flat in September and has shown little change since June.

Professional and business services employment rose by 52,000 in September. More than half of the employment increase was in temporary help services (32,000), where hurricane recovery efforts may have boosted hiring. Employ- ment in architectural and engineering services rose by 8,000 over the month. These increases were partly offset by a decline in legal services (-7,000).

Health care employment continued to grow in September, rising by 37,000. Ambulatory health care services, which include doctors' offices and outpatient clinics, added 16,000 jobs. Hospitals and nursing and residential care faci- lities also contributed to the employment gain.

Construction employment rose by 23,000 in September, about in line with the industry's average monthly gain over the past year. Job gains in September were concentrated largely among residential specialty trade contractors. Mining employment continued to trend upward, adding 5,000 jobs over the month. Support activities for mining operations accounted for much of the increase.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours in September, sesonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek remained at 40.5 hours, and factory overtime was down by 0.1 hour to 4.4 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.2 percent in September to 102.8 (2002=100). The manufacturing index was down by 0.1 percent over the month to 93.6. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents in September to $16.18, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.2 percent over the month to $545.27. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.6 percent, and average weekly earnings grew by 2.3 percent. (See table B-3.)