THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- SEPTEMBER 2014 - Construction Adds 16,000

“In September, construction employment continued on an upward trend (+16,000).

Within the industry, employment in residential building increased by 6,000. Over

the year, construction has added 230,000 jobs.”

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 248,000 in September, and the

unemployment rate declined to 5.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

reported today. Employment increased in professional and business services,

retail trade, and health care.

Household Survey Data:

In September, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 5.9

percent. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 329,000 to 9.3 million.

Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were

down by 1.3 percentage points and 1.9 million, respectively. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates declined in September for

adult men (5.3 percent), whites (5.1 percent), and Hispanics (6.9 percent). The

rates for adult women (5.5 percent), teenagers (20.0 percent), and blacks (11.0

percent) showed little change over the month. The jobless rate for Asians was

4.3 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier.

(See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary

jobs decreased by 306,000 in September to 4.5 million. The number of long-term

unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 3.0

million in September. These individuals accounted for 31.9 percent of the unemployed.

Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed is down by 1.2 million.

(See tables A-11 and A-12.)

The civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, changed little in

September. The employment-population ratio was 59.0 percent for the fourth

consecutive month. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred

to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in September at 7.1 million.

These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part

time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a

full-time job. (See table A-8.)

In September, 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force,

essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)

These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work,

and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as

unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

(See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 698,000 discouraged workers in September,

down by 154,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged

workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are

available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the labor

force in September had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or

family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data:

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 248,000 in September, compared with an

average monthly gain of 213,000 over the prior 12 months. In September, job growth

occurred in professional and business services, retail trade, and health care.

(See table B-1.)

Professional and business services added 81,000 jobs in September, compared with an

average gain of 56,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In September, job gains

occurred in employment services (+34,000), management and technical consulting

services (+12,000), and architectural and engineering services (+6,000). Employment

in legal services declined by 5,000 over the month.

Employment in retail trade rose by 35,000 in September. Food and beverage stores

added 20,000 jobs, largely reflecting the return of workers who had been off payrolls

in August due to employment disruptions at a grocery store chain in New England.

Employment in retail trade has increased by 264,000 over the past 12 months.

Health care added 23,000 jobs in September, in line with the prior 12-month average

gain of 20,000 jobs per month. In September, employment rose in home health care

services (+7,000) and hospitals (+6,000).

Employment in information increased by 12,000 in September, with a gain of 5,000

in telecommunications. Over the year, employment in information has shown little net

change.

Mining employment rose by 9,000 in September, with the majority of the increase

occurring in support activities for mining (+7,000). Over the year, mining has added

50,000 jobs.

Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places

continued to trend up in September (+20,000) and is up by 290,000 over the year.

In September, construction employment continued on an upward trend (+16,000).

Within the industry, employment in residential building increased by 6,000. Over

the year, construction has added 230,000 jobs.

Employment in financial activities continued to trend up in September (+12,000) and

has added 89,000 jobs over the year. In September, job growth occurred in insurance

carriers and related activities (+6,000) and in securities, commodity contracts,

and investments (+5,000).

Employment in other major industries, including manufacturing, wholesale trade,

transportation and warehousing, and government, showed little change over the month.

In September, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls

edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours. The manufacturing workweek was unchanged at

40.9 hours, and factory overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 3.5 hours. The average

workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls

edged down by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, at $24.53,

changed little in September (-1 cent). Over the year, average hourly earnings

have risen by 2.0 percent. In September, average hourly earnings of private-sector

production and nonsupervisory employees were unchanged at $20.67.

(See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised from +212,000

to +243,000, and the change for August was revised from +142,000 to +180,000.

With these revisions, employment gains in July and August combined were 69,000 more

than previously reported.

_____________

The Employment Situation for October is scheduled to be released on Friday,

November 7, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

• Employment Situation Summary Table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted
• Employment Situation Summary Table B. Establishment data, seasonally adjusted
• Employment Situation Frequently Asked Questions
• Employment Situation Technical Note
• Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
• Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age
• Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age
• Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment
• Table A-5. Employment status of the civilian population 18 years and over by veteran status, period of service, and sex, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-6. Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-7. Employment status of the civilian population by nativity and sex, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-8. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status
• Table A-9. Selected employment indicators
• Table A-10. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
• Table A-11. Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment
• Table A-12. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment
• Table A-13. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-14. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
• Table A-16. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
• Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
• Table B-2. Average weekly hours and overtime of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-4. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours and payrolls for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-5. Employment of women on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-6. Employment of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
• Table B-7. Average weekly hours and overtime of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
• Table B-8. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
• Table B-9. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours and payrolls for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
• Access to historical data for the "A" tables of the Employment Situation Release
• Access to historical data for the "B" tables of the Employment Situation Release
• HTML version of the entire news release

The PDF version of the news release

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics