October 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 (+56,000) in October, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.4 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.0 percent, were little changed in October. The unemployment rate has ranged from 4.9 to 5.1 percent since May. The unemployment rates for adult women (4.6 percent), teenagers (15.9 percent), whites (4.4 percent), and blacks (9.1 percent) showed little or no change over the month. The jobless rates for adult men (4.3 percent) and Hispanics or Latinos (5.8 percent) both de- clined from September. In October, the unemployment rate for Asians was 3.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

After increasing by a similar magnitude in September, the number of persons unemployed due to job loss fell by 201,000 in October to 3.5 million. Since December, the number of unemployed job losers has decreased by 585,000. (See table A-8.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, 142.6 million, and the civilian labor force, 150.1 mil- lion, were little changed in October. The employment-population ratio (62.9 percent) and the labor force participation rate (66.1 percent) also were lit- tle changed. (See table A-1.)

In October, persons employed part time for economic reasons--those who are available for and would prefer full-time work--decreased by 330,000 to 4.3 million. This number had been trending up in recent months. (See table A-5.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The number of persons marginally attached to the labor force was 1.4 mil- lion in October, down from 1.6 million a year earlier. (Data are not sea- sonally 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, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. There were 392,000 discouraged workers in October, 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 1.0 million marginally attached persons 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 (+56,000) in October at 134.1 million. Employment growth was flat in September (-8,000, as revised), due in part to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. In the first 8 months of the year, payroll employment had increased by an average of 196,000 per month. In October, construction, financial activities, and health care added jobs, while employment in most other major industries showed little movement. (See table B-1.)

Over the month, construction employment increased by 33,000, with much of the gain (20,000) occurring in residential specialty trade contracting. Prior to October, construction employment had been expanding by an average of 21,000 per month in 2005. October's gain may partly reflect rebuilding and clean-up efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Mining continued to trend upward, adding 5,000 jobs over the month.

Manufacturing added 12,000 jobs in October. Employment in transportation equipment increased by 22,000, largely due to the return of 18,000 striking workers in the aerospace industry. This gain in transportation equipment employment was partly offset by job losses in computer and peripheral equip- ment (-2,000), electrical equipment and appliances (-3,000), and miscellan- eous manufacturing (-4,000) in October.

Employment in financial activities continued to grow in October, rising by 22,000. Employment gains in credit intermediation accounted for about half of the over-the-month increase. Over the year, credit intermediation has added 107,000 jobs. Employment in insurance edged up in October.

Health care employment also continued to grow in October, increasing by 17,000. Ambulatory health care services, which includes doctors' offices and outpatient clinics, added 11,000 jobs. Hospitals also contributed to the employment gain with an increase of 6,000 jobs.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality industry edged down in October, after declining by 63,000 in September. Within the industry, food services-- which includes restaurants and drinking places--accounted for the weakness over the month. Prior to September, food services had been adding about 26,000 jobs per month in 2005.

Retail trade employment was essentially unchanged in October following a large decline in September. In October, there were job losses in department stores (-18,000) and automobile dealers (-9,000). Following large declines in August and September, employment in food stores edged up by 9,000 in October. Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores also added 9,000 jobs over the month, largely offsetting a decline in September.

Professional and business services employment was little changed in October. Over the last 12 months, however, the industry has added 442,000 jobs. Over the month, employment in computer systems design and related ser- vices increased by 8,000.

In October, employment in information decreased by 15,000. Much of this decline was due to a job loss of 11,000 in the motion picture and sound recording industry. Despite the October decline, employment in the infor- mation industry was about unchanged over the year.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours in October, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.4 hour to 41.0 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 4.5 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory work- ers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in October at 103.2 (2002=100). The manufacturing index was up by 1.3 percent over the month to 95.1. (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 8 cents in October to $16.27, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.5 percent over the month to $549.93. Over the year, both average hourly and weekly earnings increased by 2.9 per- cent. (See table B-3.)