Bureau of Labor Statistics

Current Employment Statistics

Highlights

September 2004

Bureau of Labor Statistics

October 8, 2004
2

-165

-90

43

-68

2

25

-111

11

-47

83

-37

-209

94

-159

-110

-20-28-14

-45

-25

67

88 83

8

159

83

353

324

208

96 85

128

96

-300

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

Jan-02Feb-02Mar-02Apr-02

May-02

Jun-02

Jul-02

Aug-02Sep-02Oct-02

Nov-02

Dec-02Jan-03Feb-03Mar-03Apr-03

May-03

Jun-03

Jul-03

Aug-03Sep-03Oct-03

Nov-03

Dec-03Jan-04Feb-04Mar-04Apr-04

May-04

Jun-04

Jul-04

Aug-04Sep-04

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Note: Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Employment in total nonfarm

Over-the-month change, 2002-04

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

• Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 96,000 in September. Since its most 

recent low in August 2003, 1.8 million jobs have been added to payrolls, with 

about half of the gain, 885,000, occurring from March to May of this year. 

However, employment gains in the last 4 months have slowed to an average of 

101,000 per month.

• Special attention was given to possible impacts of four hurricanes that struck the 

United States during August and September: Charley in mid-August, Frances in 

early September, Ivan in mid-September, and Jeanne late in the month. BLS’s 

review of the sample data for the affected areas indicates localized impacts. 

However, analysis at the national level suggests that payroll employment may 

have been held down marginally due to these compounding weather events. State 

and area estimates may provide more insight when they are released on October 

22, 2004.

• Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private 

nonfarm payrolls increased by 3 cents over the month and have increased by 2.4 

percent over the year. The average workweek for these workers remained 

unchanged at 33.8 hours and has been within 0.2 hour of this level for the last 3 

years. 
3

Employment in total nonfarm and supersectors

Over-the-month change, September 2004

1

4

-18

10

-15

5

2

-12

26

34

8

13

1

37

-25 -5 15 35 55

Natural resources and mining

Construction

Manufacturing

Wholesale trade

Retail trade

Transportation and warehousing

Utilities

Information

Financial activities

Professional and business services

Education and health services

Leisure and hospitality

Other services

Government

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Note: Data are preliminary.

Total nonfarm: 

+96

• In September, employment gains came from financial activities, which grew by 

26,000. Government and professional and business services also continued to add 

jobs, 37,000 and 34,000, respectively.

• Employment in manufacturing edged down by 18,000. Both information and 

retail trade suffered their third consecutive month of job losses, shedding 12,000 

and 15,000 jobs, respectively. 
4

Employment in construction

1990-2004

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

Jan-90Jan-91Jan-92Jan-93Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99Jan-00Jan-01Jan-02Jan-03Jan-04

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Most recent 2 months ofdata are preliminary.

September 2004

Level: 6,931

Change: +4

• Construction employment was little changed in September--up 4,000 jobs. 

• Since reaching an employment trough in March 2003, the industry has added 

270,000 jobs to payrolls. Recently job growth has slowed to an average 6,000 

jobs per month, compared to an average 18,000 jobs per month from March 2003 

through May 2004. 
5

-180

-140

-100

-60

-20

20

60

100

Jan-00

Mar-00

May-00

Jul-00

Sep-00Nov-00

Jan-01

Mar-01

May-01

Jul-01

Sep-01Nov-01

Jan-02

Mar-02

May-02

Jul-02

Sep-02Nov-02

Jan-03

Mar-03

May-03

Jul-03

Sep-03Nov-03

Jan-04

Mar-04

May-04

Jul-04

Sep-04

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statisti cs Survey, October 8, 2004. 

Note: Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Employment in manufacturing

Over-the-month change, 2000-04

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Average weekly hours, manufacturing

1990-2004

39.0

39.5

40.0

40.5

41.0

41.5

42.0

42.5

Jan-90Jan-91Jan-92Jan-93Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99Jan-00Jan-01Jan-02Jan-03Jan-04

39.0

39.5

40.0

40.5

41.0

41.5

42.0

42.5

Seasonally adjusted

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statisti cs Survey, October 8, 2004. 

Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

September 2004

Level: 40.8

Change: -0.1

• Manufacturing employment edged down by 18,000 in September after remaining 

little changed over the prior 3 months. However, employment in September was 

70,000 above its January 2004 trough. 

• Manufacturing average weekly hours fell by 0.1 hour to 40.8, while average 

weekly overtime hours remained unchanged at 4.6 hours. Average overtime 

hours have averaged 4.6 hours so far this year. 
6

Employment in manufacturing durable and nondurable goods

Over-the-month change, September 2004

Durable goods -10

0.4

-1.4

-4.3

-0.1

-1.7

-2.6

2.2

-1.2

0.0

-1.0

Misc.

Furniture

Transportation

Electrical

Computers

Machinery

Fabricated metals

Primary metals

Nonmetallic minerals

Wood

Nondurable goods -8

0.1

-0.8

0.1

-2.6

-1.0

0.4

-1.7

0.1

-0.7

2.9

-4.6

Plastics & rubber

Chemicals

Petroleum

Printing

Paper

Leather

Apparel

Textile product mills

Textile mills

Beverages & tobacco

Food

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004. 

Note: Data are preliminary.

• Employment losses in manufacturing in September were widespread throughout 

the durable and nondurable goods industries, with no component industry losing 

more than 5,000 jobs. 

• The loss of 4,300 jobs in transportation equipment mostly resulted from 

temporary plant shutdowns due to poor sales. Although volatile recently, 

employment in this industry has remained at about the same level for the past 

year. 

• Food manufacturing shed 4,600 jobs as a result of earlier-than-normal seasonal 

layoffs. 
7

Employment in information

1990-2004

2,400

2,750

3,100

3,450

3,800

Jan-90Jan-91Jan-92Jan-93Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99Jan-00Jan-01Jan-02Jan-03Jan-04

2,400

2,750

3,100

3,450

3,800

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

September 2004

Level: 3,150

Change: -12

• The information industry experienced accelerated job losses in September, 

totaling 12,000 jobs, as it continued its downward trend. Since last reaching an 

employment peak in March 2001, this industry has lost 568,000 jobs. Most of 

the losses have come in telecommunications, which cut 9,000 jobs over the 

month and 302,000 jobs since March 2001. 
8

Employment in financial activities

1990-2004

6,250

6,750

7,250

7,750

8,250

Jan-90Jan-91Jan-92Jan-93Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99Jan-00Jan-01Jan-02Jan-03Jan-04

6,250

6,750

7,250

7,750

8,250

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Most recent 2 months ofdata are preliminary.

September 2004

Level: 8,089

Change: +26

• Financial activities added 26,000 jobs in September. The industry has added 

108,000 jobs since the beginning of the year. Rental and leasing added 7,000 

jobs in September, following a similar-sized increase in August. Also 

contributing to the employment growth over the month were real estate (7,900), 

credit intermediation (5,900), and insurance (3,300). 
9

Employment in selected professional and business services 

September 2004 over-the-month change

4.7

6.9

-10.5

34.7

-5.0

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Architectural and

engineering services

Computer systems design

and related services

Management of companies

and enterprises

Employment services

Business support services

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Note: Data are preliminary.

Professional and business services

September 2004 change: +34

• Professional and business services added 34,000 jobs to payrolls in September 

and 668,000 jobs since its March 2003 employment trough. In September, over 

70 percent of the job gain came in professional and technical services. Industries 

classified within professional and technical services include architectural and 

engineering services (4,700), and computer systems design and related services 

(6,900).

• Administrative and waste services, which includes employment services and 

business support services, grew by almost 20,000 jobs. However, management 

of companies and enterprises lost over 10,000 jobs.
10

Employment in temporary help services

1990-2004

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Jan-90Jan-91Jan-92Jan-93Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99Jan-00Jan-01Jan-02Jan-03Jan-04

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Most recent 2 months ofdata are preliminary.

September 2004

Level: 2,505.8

Change: +33.0

• Temporary help services added 33,000 jobs to payrolls in September, following 2 

months of smaller increases. This industry has added over 345,000 jobs since 

reaching an employment trough in April 2003. Temporary help has recovered 65 

percent of the jobs lost during its most recent employment downturn. 
11

Employment in health-related services 

Over-the-month change, September 2004 and average monthly 

change for the prior 12 months

4.4

8.4

0.3

-0.9

0.0

3.8

11.6

4.4

1.3

5.9

2.5

2.1

-2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

 Offices of physicians

 Outpatient care centers

Home health care

September 2004

Prior 12-month

average

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Note: Most recent 2 months of data are preliminary.

Ambulatory health care

Hospitals

Nursing & residential care

• Employment continued to expand in health-related industries although at a slower 

rate. Offices of physicians added about 8,000 jobs in September, about double the 

average for the prior 12 months. Nursing and residential care also contributed to 

the increase by adding about 4,000 jobs. However, hospital employment was 

unchanged, a sharp contrast to the prior 12-month average gain of about 6,000 

jobs.
12

Employment in government

1990-2004

18,000

19,000

20,000

21,000

22,000

Jan-90Jan-91Jan-92Jan-93Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99Jan-00Jan-01Jan-02Jan-03Jan-04

18,000

19,000

20,000

21,000

22,000

Seasonally adjusted, in thousands

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey, October 8, 2004.

Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Most recent 2 months ofdata are preliminary.

September 2004

Level: 21,641

Change: +37

• Employment expanded at a healthy rate for the third straight month in 

government, with a gain of 37,000 jobs. Since reaching an employment trough in 

January 2004, employment in government has grown by 114,000 and is currently 

16,000 jobs above its previous employment peak in February 2003.