September 2019

Release Date: October 4, 2019

Prepared by Analysts of the National Estimates Branch

Current Employment Statistics Survey

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

202-691-6555

Email CES

Contents

Summary

Mining & Logging

Construction

Manufacturing

Wholesale Trade

Retail Trade

Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities

Information

Financial Activities

Professional & Business Services

Private Education & Health Services

Leisure & Hospitality

Other Services

Government

Current Employment Statistics Highlights

Detailed Industry Employment Analysis

Current Employment Statistics

Highlights
Current Employment Statistics Summary, September 2019

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019

moderated in 2019. Year to date, employment 

in the industry has risen by an average 35,000 

per month, compared to an average 47,000 

per month in 2018.

+22,000 Government 

 Government employment continued to 

trend up in September (+22,000). Hiring for 

the 2020 Census was negligible (+1,000). Over 

the year, employment in government has 

 Nonfarm employment increased by 

136,000 in September. Employment 

continued to trend up in health care and in 

professional and business services.

 The employment change for August revised 

up from +130,000 to +168,000, and the 

change for July revised up from +159,000 to 

+166,000. On net, employment over these 

months is 45,000 higher than previously 

reported.

 Average hourly earnings edged down by 1 

cent following an 11-cent increase in August. 

Over the year, hourly earnings have increased 

by 2.9 percent. Average weekly hours, at 34.4 

hours, were unchanged in September. 

+40,000 Education and Health Services 

 Health care continued to add jobs in 

September (+39,000). Ambulatory care 

accounted for 29,000 jobs added, while 

hospitals added 8,000 jobs. Over the year, 

employment in health care has risen by 

423,000. 

+34,000 Professional and Business Services

 Employment continued to trend up in 

professional and business services in 

September, although job growth has 

90

232234

211

15

282

336

135

270

128

170

215

252

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127

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128

229

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187

18

260

220

174171

330

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196

270

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277

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312

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153

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62

178

166168

136

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Over-the-month change Annual average

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, October 04, 2019.

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Employment in total nonfarm

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government
CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019

increased by 147,000, largely in local 

government (+102,000).

+16,000 Transportation and Warehousing 

 Employment edged up in transportation 

and warehousing in September, largely due to 

a job gain in transit and ground passenger 

transportation (+11,000). Couriers and 

messengers added 4,000 jobs.

+21,000 Leisure and Hospitality 

 Employment was essentially unchanged in 

food services and drinking places in September

(+2,000). Job growth in the industry had 

averaged 22,000 per month in 2018 but has 

decelerated each quarter in 2019 to 4,000 per 

month in the third quarter.

-2,000 Manufacturing 

 Manufacturing employment was essentially 

unchanged in September. Job growth in the 

industry had averaged 22,000 per month in 

2018 but has slowed each quarter in 2019 to 

show little change in the third quarter (+1,000 

per month).

-11,000 Retail Trade 

 Employment in retail trade changed little in 

September. Within the industry, clothing and 

clothing accessories stores lost 14,000 jobs, 

while food and beverage stores added 9,000 

jobs. Since reaching an employment peak in 

January 2017, retail trade has lost 197,000 

jobs.

22

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40

34

3

9

-2

16

-11

2

-2

7

0

-40 -20 0 20 40 60 80

Government

Other services

Leisure and hospitality

Education and health services*

Professional and business services

Financial activities

Information

Utilities

Transportation and warehousing

Retail trade

Wholesale trade

Manufacturing

Construction

Mining and logging

Employment in total nonfarm

September 2019 Prior 12-month average

Over-the-month change, September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Total nonfarm:

136*

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019.

Data are preliminary.

* denotes significance

Current Employment Statistics Survey Summary, September 2019

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government
 Mining employment was unchanged in 

September and has changed little year to 

date (-8,000). In September, the 

employment flatness in mining may reflect 

uncertainty due to higher prices of West 

Texas Intermediate crude oil and fewer 

domestic rotary rigs.

-15

-21

-20

-12

-12

-10

-4

-4

-1

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4

0

3

55

9

5

4

3

6

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1

4

0

7

7

9

9

5

8

0

8

4

6

-3

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5

-2

1

1

1

-2

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-6

0

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Employment in mining

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019. 

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Mining and Logging 

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Construction employment changed little in 

September (+7,000). So far in 2019 

construction has added an average of 12,000 

jobs per month, below the 26,000 jobs 

added per month in 2018.

 The deceleration of trend is reflected by 

weaker construction spending over the past 

year. 

4,500

5,000

5,500

6,000

6,500

7,000

7,500

8,000

Jan-09 Jan-11 Jan-13 Jan-15 Jan-17 Jan-19

Employment in construction

September 2019 Level: 7,510

OTM Change: 7

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019.

Shaded area represents recession as denoted by the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

January 2009–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Construction

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Manufacturing employment changed little in September (-2,000). The 

industry has added an average of 5,000 jobs per month so far in 2019 

after adding 22,000 per month in 2018. 

 In September, the 1-month diffusion index fell 7.3 points to 44.7 and 

the 3-month diffusion index fell 11.2 points to 47.4. A value below 50 

indicates more manufacturing industries are losing jobs than are adding 

them.

 Among component industries, computer and electronic products 

added 4,000 jobs in September, in line with its average monthly gain of 

3,000 in 2019.

 Average weekly hours of all employees in manufacturing were 

unchanged at 40.5 hours in September. The average workweek of 

production employees was also unchanged at 41.5 hours.

 The weakness in September employment coincided with the second 

consecutive contraction in the Institute for Supply Management’s 

Purchasing Managers’ Index.

 

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-25

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-18 20 17

-23

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8

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8 20 30 28 16 31 2022 21 32 208 18 29 27 20 178

-3

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-60

-40

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20

40

60

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Employment in manufacturing

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019. Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

6

0

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2

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6

8

10

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Employment in computer and electronic products

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019. Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Manufacturing

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government
 Employment in wholesale trade 

changed little in September (+2,000). 

Over the last year, the industry has added 

71,000 jobs with durable goods 

accounting for 77 percent of those gains.

 

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8 14 19

2

7 1113

8 13

0

8

5

-1

5

0

2

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Employment in wholesale trade

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019. 

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Wholesale Trade

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade:

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services

Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 In September, employment in retail 

trade continued to trend down (-11,000). 

Year to date, industry employment has 

declined by 78,000.

 Over the month, employment in 

clothing and clothing accessories stores 

declined by 14,000, while employment in 

food and beverage stores increased by 

9,000. 

Retail Trade

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Employment in transportation and 

warehousing edged up in September 

(+16,000). Transit and ground passenger 

transportation gained 11,000 jobs, 

offsetting a decline of 9,000 in July.

 Among the other component 

industries, couriers and messengers 

added jobs in September (+4,000). 

Employment in truck transportation 

edged down over the month (-4,000).

Transportation and Warehousing

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Employment in utilities declined by 

2,000 in September but has changed 

little, on net, so far in 2019 (-4,000).

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Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Employment in utilities

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019. 

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Utilities

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Information employment changed 

little in September (+9,000), in line with 

recent trends.

 Over the past 6 months, 

telecommunications has shed 18,000 

jobs, which were offset by an 18,000-job 

gain in other information services over 

the same period. Other information 

services includes—but is not limited to—

web search portals, stock photo 

agencies, and internet publishing 

establishments.

Information

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Employment in financial activities 

changed little in September (+3,000). 

Over the most recent 12 months, the 

industry has added 99,000 jobs, 

representing a change of 1.2 percent. 

Insurance carriers and related activities 

accounted for 36,000 of the gains during 

this period.

 

Financial Activities

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019 14

7 17 25 12 17 23 18

66

9 2829

-2 11 18

6 15 1313

7

5

8

7

2 26

9

4 15 11

5 11 1414

3

1

6

5 11 145

3 19 153

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Employment in financial activities

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019. 

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.
 Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in 

September (+34,000). Year to date, professional and business services has 

added an average of 35,000 jobs per month, below the 2018 monthly average 

of 47,000. 

 Employment in professional and technical services continued to trend up in 

September (+13,000), below its prior-months’ averages. Employment in

management and technical consulting services trended up (+6,000) but was 

unchanged in computer systems and design and related services.

 

 Employment in temporary help services changed little in September

(+10,000). Over the year, employment in the industry has been flat (+13,000), 

similar to the 52-week comparison of the American Staffing Association’s 

Staffing index.

-12

17

29

33

4

41

49

12

75

11

35

30

50

4

33

30

51

37

46

36

13

41

35

31

37

44 42

62

51 51

37

58

53 55

34

37

5

54

19

55

21

43

37

43

34

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-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Over-the-month change Annual average

Over-the-month change, January 2016 ̶ September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Employment in professional and business services

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, October 04, 2019 Most recent 2 months are preliminary.

Sep-19: 34

Prior-12: 38

16

6

13

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Administrative and waste

services

Management of companies

and enterprises

Professional and technical

services

Over-the-month change Prior-3 Prior-6 Prior-12

Employment in professional and business services component industries

Over-the-month change and prior averages, September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, October 04, 2019 Most recent 2 months are preliminary.

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

Professional and Business Services
 Health care employment continued 

to grow in September (+39,000).

Ambulatory health care services 

(+29,000) and hospitals (+8,000) 

added jobs. 

 Within ambulatory health care 

services, offices of other health 

practitioners—such as offices of 

chiropractors and offices of 

optometrists—added 10,000 jobs. 

36

32

26

36

35

33

39

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26

27 27

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22

20

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34

41

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26

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32

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25

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34

50

42

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50

25

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33 33

37

39

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Over-the-month change Annual average

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, October 04, 2019.

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Employment in health care

Private Education and Health Services

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Employment in leisure and hospitality 

changed little in September (+21,000), 

and has not risen significantly over the 

month since adding 93,000 jobs in 

January 2019.

 Food services and drinking places 

employment was flat in September 

(+2,000). Year to date, employment has 

increased by an average 13,000 per 

month, compared to 22,000 per month 

in 2018. The recent weakness may be 

connected to dropping restaurant sales.

Leisure and Hospitality

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Employment in other services

changed little in September (-3,000). 

Over the most recent 12 months, the 

industry has added 90,000 jobs. Over 

this time, the largest job gain came in 

membership associations and 

organizations (+40,000). 

-3 16

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6

-7 13

4 13 16

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55 11 1055

-3 14

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3

44

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-12

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7

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1 11

9

4 19 16

-3 15

77

-3

-25

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-10

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10

15

20

25

30

Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19

Employment in other services

Over-the-month change, January 2016–September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019. 

Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Other Services

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
 Government employment continued 

to trend up in September (+22,000).

Federal hiring for the decennial census 

was negligible (+1,000). 

 Over the past 3 months, both state

education (+25,000) and local education 

(+47,000) have added jobs.

8

6

5

5

-1

-2

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10

Local government, excluding education

Local government education

State government, excluding education

State government education

U.S. Postal Service*

Federal, except U.S. Postal Service*

Employment in selected government

September 2019 Prior 12-month average

Over-the-month change, September 2019

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Government:

22

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, October 04, 2019.

Data are preliminary.

* denotes significance

Government

Summary Mining & 

Logging Construction Manufacturing

Trade: 

Wholesale

Retail

Transp., 

Warehousing

& Utilities

Information Financial

Activities

Professional

& Business

Services

Private

Education

& Health

Services

Leisure & 

Hospitality

Other

Services Government

CES Highlights Release Date: October 4, 2019
Prepared by Staff of the National Estimates Branch

Current Employment Statistics Survey

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

202-691-6555

Email CES

CES Analysts

Osman Alhassan

Ryan Ansell

Hyun Choi

Steve Crestol

Tyler Downing

Katelynn Harris

Mike McCall

John Mullins

Michael Osifalujo

Edward Park

Carson Wilson

Current Employment Statistics Highlights

Detailed Industry Employment Analysis