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 5, 2007

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 110,000 in 

September, and the unemployment rate was essentially 

unchanged at 4.7 percent. Health care, food services, and 

professional and technical services all continued to add 

jobs, while employment in manufacturing, construction, and 

employment services remained on a downward trend. Average 

hourly earnings rose by 7 cents over the month.

The estimates of payroll employment change for July 

and August were revised upward. The July change rose from 

+68,000 to +93,000 and the August change from -4,000 to 

+89,000. After incorporating these revisions, average 

monthly job growth for June through September is 90,000, 

compared with an average of 147,000 for the first 5 months 

of the year.
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Nearly all of the August revision reflected an upward 

adjustment to government employment, particularly local 

education. As noted last month, employment estimates for 

local government education can be volatile, particularly 

during the summer months. Initial estimates of employment 

in local education typically are based upon a smaller 

percentage of survey responses than in other sectors. This 

lower initial response can make estimation more problematic 

in months when school sessions begin and end. 

In September, health care employment continued to 

grow, rising by 33,000. The food services industry also 

continued to add jobs, with a gain of 25,000 over the 

month. Together, these two industries have accounted for 

about one-half of all nonfarm employment growth in 2007. 

Over the month, employment rose by 37,000 in professional 

and technical services; notable job gains occurred in 

management consulting and in accounting services. Social 

assistance employment increased by 12,000.

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment 

in the credit intermediation industry, which includes 

mortgage lending and related activities, continued to 

decline. Since February, employment in the industry has 

fallen by 46,000. Employment services lost 35,000 jobs in 

September; employment in this industry has fallen by 
3

203,000 since peaking last December. Within retail trade, 

building supply stores lost 17,000 jobs in September.

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing 

employment was down by 18,000, with small declines 

scattered across the industry. Over the year, 

manufacturing has shed 223,000 jobs. Over the month, 

factory hours and overtime were unchanged at 41.4 and 4.1 

hours, respectively.

Employment in the construction industry continued to 

trend down in September; since peaking a year earlier, 

employment has declined by 112,000. Over the year, job 

losses occurred in residential building and among 

residential specialty trade contractors. In contrast, 

employment in nonresidential and heavy construction 

industries has been relatively flat.

Average hourly earnings for private sector production 

and nonsupervisory workers were up by 7 cents, or 0.4 

percent, in September. Over the year, average hourly 

earnings have increased by 4.1 percent.

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in September, essentially 

unchanged from the previous month and over the year. 

Unemployment rates for the major worker groups showed 

little or no change in September. 
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Total employment and the civilian labor force both 

rose over the month, after edging down in August. Both the 

August and September changes reflected large movements in 

the highly seasonal teen labor force. In September, the 

overall labor force participation rate was 66.0 percent and 

the proportion of the population that was employed was 62.9 

percent. Both measures remained below their recent peaks 

reached in December 2006. 

In keeping with standard practice, this month the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics is providing a preliminary 

estimate of the next benchmark revision to nonfarm payroll 

employment. Each year the Bureau revises, or benchmarks, 

the payroll survey’s sample-based employment estimates to 

reflect comprehensive employment counts derived largely 

from state unemployment insurance tax reports. 

Preliminary tabulations of employment from the state 

tax reports indicate that the March 2007 payroll employment 

estimate will require a downward revision of 297,000, or 

two-tenths of one percent of total nonfarm employment. 

Annual benchmark revisions for the past 10 years have 

averaged plus or minus two-tenths of a percent of 

employment. This year, the Bureau also is providing 

preliminary benchmark estimates by major industry sector; 

see table 1 in this month’s Employment Situation news 
5

release for this information. The final benchmark will be 

incorporated into payroll survey data on February 1, 2008, 

with the publication of the January 2008 Employment 

Situation. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 

110,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was 

essentially unchanged at 4.7 percent.