October 1996 — 1996-10-04

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. Good morning. I am pleased to have this opportunity to comment on the employment and unemployment data released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment was virtually unchanged in September after seven months of steady growth. The unemployment rate, at 5.2 percent, also was little changed over the month. Manufacturing employment fell by 57,000 in September, with losses spread through most of the component industries. Employment in transportation equipment fell by 12,000, mostly because of losses in automobile manufacturing; industrial machinery also lost 11,000 jobs. In nondurable goods manufacturing, food processing lost 7,000 jobs. Losses in this industry have been accelerating in recent months. Employment in printing and publishing also continued to decline, falling by 5,000.