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 

John M. Galvin 

Acting Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, October 5, 2012

The unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 

7.8 percent in September, and nonfarm payroll employment 

increased by 114,000. In 2012, job gains have averaged 146,000 

per month, compared with 153,000 per month in 2011. 

In September, health care employment rose by 44,000, 

largely in ambulatory health care services. Over the last 12 

months, health care employment has risen by 295,000. 

Transportation and warehousing employment increased by 

17,000 in September. Employment in this industry has risen by 

104,000 over the year. 

Manufacturing employment edged down over the month 

(-16,000), with declines in computer and electronic products 

(-6,000) and in printing and related activities (-3,000). On 

net, manufacturing employment has been unchanged since April. 
2 

Employment in temporary help services was essentially 

unchanged in September and August. During the prior 12 months, 

the industry had added an average of 20,000 jobs per month. 

Employment in financial activities edged up in September 

(+13,000), reflecting modest gains in credit intermediation 

(+6,000) and real estate (+7,000). Employment in other major 

industries changed little in September. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls rose by 7 cents in September to $23.58. Over the past 

12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 percent. 

From August 2011 to August 2012, the Consumer Price Index for 

All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.7 percent. 

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 7.8 

percent in September. For the first 8 months of the year, the 

rate held in a narrow range of 8.1 to 8.3 percent. The number 

of unemployed persons declined by 456,000 to 12.1 million in 

September. There was a large decrease (-206,000) in 

unemployment among 20- to 24-year-olds. Among all unemployed 

persons, the proportion who had been jobless for 27 weeks or 

longer was 40.1 percent, essentially unchanged from the prior 

month but down from 44.7 percent a year earlier. 

Total employment, as measured by the household survey, rose 

by 873,000 in September, following 3 months of little change. 
3 

On a month-to-month basis, the household survey employment 

measure is more variable than the payroll employment measure due 

to the smaller household survey sample. Over longer periods, 

the changes in household and payroll survey employment tend to 

track more closely. 

In September, employment of persons age 20 to 24 years rose 

by 368,000. The September gain for this group follows a decline 

in August. Over the 2-month period, employment for 20- to 24-

year-olds was little changed. 

The employment-population ratio rose 0.4 percentage point 

in September to 58.7 percent, following 2 months in which the 

ratio had edged down. The overall trend in the employmentpopulation ratio for this year has been flat. The labor force 

participation rate was little changed in September. Like the 

employment-population ratio, the labor force participation rate 

has been essentially flat in 2012. 

Among the employed, the number of involuntary part time 

workers increased by 582,000 to 8.6 million in September. 

In summary, the unemployment rate declined from 8.1 to 7.8 

percent, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 114,000.