Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, October 7, 2022.

Statement of

William W. Beach

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, October 7, 2022

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000 in 

September, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent. 

Notable job growth occurred in leisure and hospitality and in 

health care. Monthly job growth has averaged 420,000 thus far in 

2022, compared with 562,000 per month in 2021. 

Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 83,000 

in September, in line with its average monthly gain for the 

first 8 months of this year. Food services and drinking places 

added 60,000 jobs in September. Employment in leisure and 

hospitality is below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 1.1

million, or 6.7 percent.

Health care added 60,000 jobs in September, with growth in 

ambulatory health care services (+28,000) and hospitals 

(+28,000). Health care has returned to its February 2020 

employment level.
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Employment in professional and business services continued 

its upward trend in September (+46,000). Thus far in 2022, job 

growth in this industry has averaged 72,000 per month. In 

September, employment in temporary help services continued to 

trend up (+27,000). Job gains occurred in investigation and 

security services (+9,000) and in scientific research and 

development services (+5,000). Job losses occurred in business 

support services (-12,000), legal services (-5,000), and 

advertising and related services (-5,000).

Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in September 

(+22,000), with job gains in motor vehicles and parts (+8,000), 

fabricated metal products (+6,000), and electrical equipment and 

appliances (+3,000). Printing and related support activities 

lost 4,000 jobs over the month. Manufacturing employment has 

increased by an average of 36,000 per month thus far in 2022.

In September, employment in construction continued to trend 

up (+19,000), in line with average monthly job growth over the 

first 8 months of the year. Specialty trade contractors added 

18,000 jobs in September. 

Wholesale trade employment continued to trend up in 

September (+11,000). Thus far in 2022, the industry has added an 

average of 18,000 jobs per month.

In September, employment in financial activities changed 

little (-8,000). Declines in insurance carriers and related 
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activities (-9,000) and nondepository credit intermediation 

(-7,000) were partially offset by a job gain in depository 

credit intermediation (+5,000).

In September, employment changed little in transportation 

and warehousing (-8,000). A job loss of 11,000 in truck 

transportation was partially offset by a gain of 3,000 in air 

transportation.

Employment showed little change over the month in other 

major industries, including mining, retail trade, information, 

other services, and government.

In September, the average workweek for all private-sector 

workers was 34.5 hours for the fourth month in a row. The 

average workweek for manufacturing was unchanged at 40.3 hours.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.46 in 

September. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have 

increased by 5.0 percent.

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent in 

September, returning to its July level. The number of unemployed

people edged down to 5.8 million in September.

In September, the unemployment rate for Hispanics declined 

to 3.8 percent. The jobless rates for adult men (3.3 percent), 

adult women (3.1 percent), teenagers (11.4 percent), Whites (3.1
4

percent), Blacks (5.8 percent), and Asians (2.5 percent) showed 

little change.

Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers 

decreased by 173,000 to 1.2 million in September. This decline 

offset an increase in the prior month.

By duration of unemployment, the number of people 

unemployed for 27 weeks or more was little changed at 1.1 

million in September. These long-term unemployed accounted for 

18.5 percent of all unemployed people.

The labor force participation rate, at 62.3 percent, 

changed little in September, and the employment-population ratio

was unchanged at 60.1 percent. Both measures are below their 

February 2020 values by 1.1 percentage points.

In September, the number of people working part time for 

economic reasons declined by 306,000 to 3.8 million.

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job was little changed at 5.8 million in September. This 

measure remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million.

Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a 

job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor 

force, at 1.6 million, was little changed in September. (People 

who are marginally attached to the labor force had not actively 

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 
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the last 12 months.) The number of discouraged workers, a subset 

of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were 

available for them, rose by 119,000 to 485,000 in September.

Looking at the supplemental pandemic-related measures from 

the household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because 

of the pandemic was 5.2 percent in September, down from 6.5 

percent in the prior month. In May 2020, the first month that 

these data were collected, 35.4 percent of employed people

teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic. These data refer 

only to employed people who teleworked or worked at home for pay 

at some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the 

pandemic; they do not include all instances of telework.

In September, the number of people who reported that they 

had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 

business due to the pandemic was 1.4 million, down from 1.9

million a month earlier. This measure is down from 49.8 million 

in May 2020. (These individuals did not work at all or worked 

fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to the 

pandemic.) Among those who reported in September that they were 

unable to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost 

business, 21.4 percent received at least some pay from their 

employer for the hours not worked, essentially unchanged from 

August.
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Among those not in the labor force in September, 452,000 

people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, 

little changed from the prior month. In May 2020, the first month 

these data were collected, 9.7 million people were prevented 

from looking for work due to the pandemic. (To be counted as 

unemployed, by definition, individuals must either be actively 

searching for work or on temporary layoff.)

These supplemental data come from questions added to the 

household survey from May 2020 through September 2022 to help 

gauge the effects of the pandemic on the labor market. New 

questions will be asked beginning in October 2022. More 

information is available online at www.bls.gov/cps/effects-ofthe-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic.htm.

Hurricane Ian had no discernible effect on the employment 

and unemployment data for September. Household survey data 

collection was completed before the storm made landfall in 

Florida, and establishment survey data collection rates were 

within normal ranges nationally and for the affected areas.

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000 

in September, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5

percent.