Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press 

under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that 

the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Statement of 

William J. Wiatrowski 

Acting Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, October 5, 2018

The unemployment rate declined to 3.7 percent in September, 

and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 134,000. Job gains 

occurred in professional and business services, in health care, 

and in transportation and warehousing. 

Incorporating revisions for July and August, which 

increased nonfarm payroll employment by 87,000, monthly job 

gains have averaged 190,000 over the past 3 months. 

Hurricane Florence made landfall on the East Coast on 

September 14--during the reference period for both the 

establishment and household surveys--causing large-scale 

evacuations and severe damage to many homes and businesses.

Response rates for the two surveys were within normal ranges. It 

is possible that payroll employment in some industries was 

affected by the hurricane; however, it is not possible to 

quantify the net effect on employment. 
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In September, employment in professional and business 

services increased by 54,000. Over the year, employment in the 

industry rose by 560,000. 

Health care added 26,000 jobs in September, with a gain of 

12,000 jobs in hospitals. Over the year, employment in health 

care has increased by 302,000. 

In September, transportation and warehousing added 24,000 

jobs. Job gains occurred in warehousing and storage (+8,000) and 

couriers and messengers (+5,000). Transportation and warehousing 

has added 174,000 jobs over the year. 

Employment in construction continued to trend up in 

September (+23,000). Over the year, construction employment has

increased by 315,000. 

Employment in manufacturing also continued to trend up in 

September (+18,000), with a gain of 17,000 in durable goods. 

Over the year, manufacturing has added 278,000 jobs, most of 

which were in the durable goods component. 

Within mining, support activities for mining added 6,000

jobs in September. 

Employment in leisure and hospitality was little changed 

over the month (-17,000). Prior to September, employment in the 

industry had been on a modest upward trend. Some of the weakness 

in this industry in September may reflect the impact of 

Hurricane Florence.
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Employment in other major industries--including wholesale 

trade, retail trade, information, financial activities, and 

government--showed little or no change over the month. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 8 cents in September to $27.24. Over the 

past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.8 

percent. From August 2017 to August 2018, the Consumer Price 

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 2.7 percent 

(on a seasonally adjusted basis). 

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 3.7 

percent in September. The number of unemployed people fell by 

270,000 to 6.0 million, largely among adult women. Over the 

year, the number of unemployed people declined by 795,000, and 

the unemployment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage point. 

Among the unemployed, the number of people searching for 

work for 27 weeks or more was little changed at 1.4 million in 

September. These long-term unemployed accounted for 22.9 percent 

of the unemployed. 

The labor force participation rate held at 62.7 percent in 

September, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.4 percent, 

was little changed. 

In September, there were 4.6 million people working part 

time for economic reasons (also referred to as involuntary part-
4

time workers). Although this measure was up by 263,000 over the 

month, it has been trending down over the year and is 506,000 

lower than a year ago.

Among those neither working nor looking for work in 

September, 1.6 million were considered marginally attached to 

the labor force, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. 

Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who 

believed that no jobs were available for them, numbered 383,000 

in September, also about unchanged from a year earlier. 

(Marginally attached to the labor force refers to people who had 

not looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but 

wanted a job, were available for work, and had looked for a job 

within the last 12 months.) 

In summary, the unemployment rate declined to 3.7 percent 

in September, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 

134,000.