Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2015-10-02

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 increased by 142,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1 percent. Employment rose in health care and information, while mining lost jobs. Thus far in 2015, nonfarm job growth has averaged 198,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 260,000 in 2014. Incorporating revisions for July and August, which decreased nonfarm payroll employment by 59,000, monthly job gains have averaged 167,000 over the past 3 months. Health care employment rose by 34,000 in September, in line with its average monthly gain of 38,000 over the prior 12 months. Hospitals added 16,000 jobs over the month, and employment in ambulatory health care continued to trend up (+13,000). Employment in information grew by 12,000 in September.