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 Standard Time. 

Statement of 

Erica L. Groshen 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, November 8, 2013

 Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 204,000 in October, and 

the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent. Over 

the prior 12 months, job gains averaged 190,000 per month. In 

October, employment rose in leisure and hospitality, retail 

trade, professional and technical services, manufacturing, and 

health care. 

The release of these data comes 1 week later than 

originally scheduled because of the recent partial federal 

government shutdown, which began on October 1st and ended on 

October 16th. All data collection activities for both the 

household and payroll surveys were suspended during the 

shutdown. Shortly after the shutdown ended, October data 

collection for both surveys began. BLS delayed the release of 

the October estimates by 1 week to allow enough time to collect 

data. The October reference period for each survey was 

unchanged. Although data collection was delayed, the response 
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rate for the household survey was within its normal range, and 

the response rate for the establishment survey was above 

average. 

Looking at the October payroll survey estimates, there were 

no discernible impacts of the partial federal government 

shutdown on the estimates of employment, hours, and earnings. 

Leisure and hospitality employment increased by 53,000 in 

October, following little change in the previous month. Job 

growth in the industry averaged 34,000 per month over the prior 

12 months. Most of the gain in October, as well as over the 

year, occurred in food services and drinking places. 

In October, retail trade gained 44,000 jobs, with increases 

in food and beverage stores (+12,000), electronics and appliance 

stores (+10,000), sporting goods and hobby stores (+8,000), 

general merchandise stores (+8,000), and building material and 

garden supply stores (+7,000). Clothing and accessories stores 

lost 13,000 jobs. 

Professional and technical services employment rose by 

21,000 in October. The management and technical consulting 

services component added 8,000 jobs. 

In October, manufacturing employment rose by 19,000. On 

net, factory employment has been about unchanged since a recent 

peak in February 2013. Within manufacturing, job growth in 
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October occurred in motor vehicles and parts (+6,000), wood 

products (+3,000), and furniture and related products (+3,000). 

Health care employment was up by 15,000 in October, 

following little change in September. Thus far in 2013, monthly 

job growth has averaged 17,000 in the sector, compared with an 

average monthly gain of 27,000 in 2012. 

Elsewhere in the private sector, employment showed little 

or no change in October. 

Within government, federal government employment declined 

by 12,000 in October. Over the year, job losses in federal 

government have totaled 94,000. Federal employees on furlough 

during the partial government shutdown were still considered 

employed in the payroll survey because they worked or received 

pay for the pay period that included the 12th of the month. In 

the establishment survey, workers who are paid for any part of a 

pay period are defined as employed. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls edged up by 2 cents in October. Over the past 12 

months, average hourly earnings have risen by 52 cents, or 2.2 

percent. From September 2012 to September 2013, the Consumer 

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

Turning to our survey of households, the unemployment rate, 

at 7.3 percent, was little changed in October, and the number of 

unemployed persons remained at 11.3 million. 
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Unlike the establishment survey, some of the estimates from 

the household survey clearly reflect an impact of the partial 

government shutdown. This is due to differences in the concepts 

and definitions used in the two surveys. In the household 

survey, workers who indicate that they were not working during 

the entire reference week due to a shutdown-related furlough and 

expect to be recalled to their jobs should be classified as 

unemployed on temporary layoff, whether or not they are paid for 

the time they were off work. In October, many furloughed federal 

employees were so classified, contributing to a rise in the 

overall number of persons unemployed on temporary layoff. 

However, some federal workers who were not at work during 

the entire reference week in October were not classified as 

unemployed on temporary layoff. Rather, they were classified as 

employed but absent from work. Our review of the data indicates 

that most of these workers should have been classified as 

unemployed on temporary layoff. Such a misclassification is an 

example of nonsampling error and can occur when respondents 

misunderstand questions or interviewers record answers 

incorrectly. According to usual practice, the data from the 

household survey are accepted as recorded. To maintain data 

integrity, no ad hoc actions are taken to reassign survey 

responses. 
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If the federal workers who were recorded as employed but 

absent from work had been classified as unemployed on temporary 

layoff, the overall unemployment rate would have been slightly, 

but not substantively, higher than reported. 

Returning to the indicators from the household survey for 

October, the labor force level fell by 720,000 to 154.8 million, 

and the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.4 

percentage point to 62.8 percent. The number of employed persons 

fell by 735,000 to 143.6 million, and the employment-population 

ratio declined by 0.3 percentage point to 58.3 percent. The 

October decrease in employment in the household survey was due 

partly to federal workers on furlough from the partial 

government shutdown. As always, subsequent months of data may 

provide further insights into underlying trends in the job 

market. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 204,000 

in October, and the unemployment rate, at 7.3 percent, changed 

little.