The Employment Situation: October 1996 — 1996-11-01

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in October, and unemployment was unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment rose by 210,000, with the largest gains occurring in services and retail trade. Manufacturing employment was about unchanged, following a large decline in September. The unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in October, in line with both the August and September figures. About 6.9 million persons were unemployed in October, and the unemployment rate was 5.2 percent. Both measures were unchanged from September. Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates were essentially unchanged for adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (4.4 percent), blacks (10.8 percent), and Hispanics (8.0 percent). (See tables A-1 and A-2.) Total employment was 127.6 million in October, little different from the September level.