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

Philip L. Rones

Acting Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, October 6, 2006

Nonfarm payroll employment held steady in September 

(+51,000), and the unemployment rate, at 4.6 percent, was 

essentially unchanged. Payroll employment had increased by 

188,000 in August and by 123,000 in July, as revised. Over 

the month, employment rose in health care and in financial 

activities and declined in manufacturing. Employment was 

little changed in other major industry groups. Average 

hourly earnings rose by 4 cents, or 0.2 percent, in 

September.

In the service-providing sector, health care added 

24,000 jobs in September, in line with the average monthly 

gain for the first 8 months of this year. Since December, 

health care employment has expanded by 231,000. 

Employment in financial activities rose by 16,000 over 

the month. Job growth continued in credit intermediation 
2

and in insurance. Real estate employment was flat over the 

month and has shown no net change since April. Employment 

continued to expand in food services and drinking places 

(+15,000) and in the durable goods component of wholesale 

trade (+9,000). 

Within professional and business services, employment 

increased by 10,000 in accounting and bookkeeping services 

and by 6,000 in management of companies and enterprises. 

Employment in both computer systems design and temporary 

help services was little changed in September. Computer 

systems design employment has trended up during the year, 

while temporary help employment has been relatively flat. 

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment 

continued to trend down in retail trade. In September, job 

losses occurred in sporting goods, hobby, book, and music 

stores and in department stores. Over the past 6 months, 

employment declines in department stores have totaled 

48,000. The number of jobs in state education declined in 

September, and employment in private education edged down 

following an unusually large gain in August. 

In the goods-producing sector, construction employment 

was little changed, following a gain of 23,000 in August. 

Since February, employment has grown by a modest 41,000, 

largely reflecting job gains in nonresidential specialty 
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trade contracting that more than offset job losses in 

residential specialty trade contracting. 

Employment in mining was flat in September. In the 

12-month period ending in August, job growth in the 

industry totaled 57,000.

Manufacturing employment declined in September 

(-19,000). Job losses continued in wood products, 

nonmetallic mineral products, and furniture and related 

products—-industries related to home building. Employment 

also continued to trend down in a number of nondurable 

components, including textile mills, paper and paper 

products, and plastics and rubber products. Manufacturing 

hours declined by 0.2 hour to 41.1 hours, and factory 

overtime was down by 0.1 hour to 4.3 hours.

Average hourly earnings for private production and 

nonsupervisory workers rose by 4 cents (0.2 percent) in 

September to $16.84. Over the 12-month period ending in 

September, average hourly earnings rose by 4.0 percent.

Most major labor market indicators from our household 

survey showed little or no change in September. Both the 

unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were 

essentially unchanged at 4.6 percent and 6.9 million, 

respectively. Thus far this year, the unemployment rate 

has held in a narrow range from 4.6 to 4.8 percent. In 
4

September, both the labor force participation rate, at 66.2 

percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 63.1 

percent, were unchanged. Over the year, the labor force 

participation rate was unchanged and the employmentpopulation rate was up slightly from 62.8 percent. 

In keeping with standard practice, this month BLS is 

announcing the preliminary estimate for the next benchmark 

revision to payroll employment. The benchmark process 

annually revises the payroll survey’s sample-based 

employment estimates to incorporate universe employment 

counts derived largely from unemployment insurance tax 

reports.

Preliminary tabulations of employment from state 

unemployment insurance tax reports indicate that the 

estimate of total nonfarm payroll employment for March 2006 

will require an upward revision of approximately 810,000, 

or six-tenths of one percent. The historical average for 

the benchmark revision over the prior 10 years has been 

plus or minus two-tenths of one percent. BLS currently is 

researching possible sources for this larger-than-normal 

expected revision. The final CES benchmark revision will 

be incorporated into the payroll survey on February 2, 

2007, with the publication of the January 2007 Employment 

Situation news release.