Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2006-10-06

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. Nonfarm payroll employment held steady in September (+51,000), and the unemployment rate, at 4.6 percent, was essentially unchanged. Payroll employment had increased by 188,000 in August and by 123,000 in July, as revised. Over the month, employment rose in health care and in financial activities and declined in manufacturing. Employment was little changed in other major industry groups. Average hourly earnings rose by 4 cents, or 0.2 percent, in September. In the service-providing sector, health care added 24,000 jobs in September, in line with the average monthly gain for the first 8 months of this year. Since December, health care employment has expanded by 231,000. Employment in financial activities rose by 16,000 over the month. Job growth continued in credit intermediation and in insurance.