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, November 5, 2010

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in October. The 

unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent and has been 

essentially unchanged since May. Since December 2009, nonfarm 

payroll employment has risen by 874,000, and private-sector 

employment has increased by 1.1 million. 

Within the service-providing sector, temporary help 

services added 35,000 jobs over the month, bringing total job 

gains since September 2009 to 451,000. Employment in computer 

systems design and related services rose by 8,000 in October; 

this industry has added 53,000 jobs since June 2009. Health 

care employment continued to increase (+24,000) in October, with 

gains throughout the industry. 

Within leisure and hospitality, job losses in arts, 

entertainment, and recreation (-26,000) offset gains in food 

services and drinking places (+24,000). So far this year, 
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employment in food services has risen by 143,000. Retail trade 

employment rose in October (+28,000), with gains occurring among 

automobile dealers (+6,000) and electronics and appliance stores 

(+5,000). 

Within the goods-producing sector, employment in mining 

continued to expand (+8,000), reflecting ongoing gains in 

support activities for mining. Mining has added 88,000 jobs 

over the last 12 months. Employment in most other major 

private-sector industries was little changed in October. 

Government employment overall was about unchanged. However, 

employment in local government, excluding education, decreased 

by 14,000 over the month and has fallen by 123,000 over the last 

12 months. The number of temporary decennial census workers 

fell by 5,000 in October; only about 1,000 remained on Federal 

payrolls. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls were up by 5 cents over the month to $22.73. Over the 

past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.7 

percent. From September 2009 to September 2010, the Consumer 

Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.1 

percent. 

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 0.1 hour in October, and the manufacturing 

workweek for all employees also increased by 0.1 hour. The 
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average workweek has increased by 0.6 hour since its recent low 

in October 2009. The manufacturing workweek has increased by 

1.6 hours since its recent low in June 2009. 

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6 percent in October. The 

jobless rate has been at or near this level since May. Among 

the unemployed in October, the proportion who had been jobless 

for 27 weeks or more was 41.8 percent, about the same as in 

September. 

Both the labor force participation rate, at 64.5 percent, 

and the employment-population ratio, at 58.3 percent, edged down 

in October. These measures have declined by 0.7 and 0.5 

percentage point, respectively, since April. 

The number of individuals working part time who preferred 

full-time work declined by 318,000 to 9.2 million in October, 

following 2 months of large increases. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in 

October, and the unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent.