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 

Keith Hall 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, October 8, 2010

Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-95,000) in 

September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent. 

Private-sector employment continued to trend up modestly 

(+64,000). Government employment continued to fall (-159,000), 

partly reflecting the loss of 77,000 temporary Census 2010 jobs. 

In September, 6,000 temporary decennial census workers remained 

on the federal government payroll. Elsewhere in the government 

sector, local government employment fell by 76,000. 

Within the private sector, health care employment continued 

to expand (+24,000) in September, primarily in ambulatory health 

care services. Employment services added 28,000 jobs; most of 

the gain was in temporary help services. Employment in food 

services rose by 34,000 over the month. Other major serviceproviding industries showed little change. 
2 

Manufacturing employment was little changed (-6,000) in 

September and, on net, has shown essentially no change since 

May. In the first 5 months of this year, factory job growth had 

averaged 27,000 per month. Elsewhere in the goods-producing 

sector, construction employment edged down by 21,000 in 

September but, on net, has changed little since February. 

Mining employment continued to trend up in September. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls were up by 1 cent over the month to $22.67. Over the 

past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.7 

percent. From August 2009 to August 2010, the Consumer Price 

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.2 percent. 

Most measures from the survey of households showed little 

or no movement over the month. The jobless rate was unchanged 

at 9.6 percent. Of the 14.8 million unemployed, 41.7 percent 

had been jobless for 27 weeks or more in September, about the 

same as in August. The employment-population ratio held at 58.5 

percent in September. Among the employed, however, the number 

of involuntary part-time workers rose by 612,000 over the month 

to a series high of 9.5 million. 

In keeping with standard practice, the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics 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 
3 

estimates to incorporate universe employment counts derived 

primarily from unemployment insurance tax reports. Preliminary 

tabulations indicate that the estimate of total nonfarm payroll 

employment for March 2010 will require a downward revision of 

approximately 366,000, or three-tenths of one percent. The 

average of the absolute values of the benchmark revisions over 

the prior 10 years is three-tenths of one percent. 

The final benchmark revision will be incorporated into the 

payroll survey with the publication of January data on February 

4, 2011. Historical data series will be revised at that time. 

In summary, total nonfarm payroll employment edged down in 

September. Private-sector employment continued on a modest 

upward trend, while government employment decreased. The 

unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent.