Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2013-09-06

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 increased by 169,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent. Over the prior 12 months, job gains averaged 184,000 per month. In August, employment rose in retail trade and health care, while information lost jobs. Retail trade added 44,000 jobs in August. Job gains occurred in clothing stores (+14,000), food and beverage stores (+12,000), general merchandise stores (+9,000), and electronics and appliance stores (+4,000). Over the past 12 months, retail trade employment has increased by 393,000. Health care employment rose by 33,000 in August. Within health care, ambulatory care services, such as doctors� offices and home health care services, added 27,000 jobs. Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in August (+23,000).