Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2007-10-05

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 110,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.7 percent. Health care, food services, and professional and technical services all continued to add jobs, while employment in manufacturing, construction, and employment services remained on a downward trend. Average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents over the month. The estimates of payroll employment change for July and August were revised upward. The July change rose from +68,000 to +93,000 and the August change from -4,000 to +89,000. After incorporating these revisions, average monthly job growth for June through September is 90,000, compared with an average of 147,000 for the first 5 months of the year. Nearly all of the August revision reflected an upward adjustment to government employment, particularly local education.