Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2019-10-04

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. The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 3.5 percent in September, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 136,000. Employment continued to trend up in health care and in professional and business services. Thus far in 2019, monthly job growth has averaged 161,000, compared with an average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018. (Incorporating revisions for July and August, which increased employment by 45,000, monthly job gains have averaged 157,000 over the past 3 months.) Health care employment rose by 39,000 in September, with gains occurring in ambulatory health care services (+29,000) and hospitals (+8,000). Over the year, employment in health care has risen by 423,000. In September, employment continued to trend up in professional and business services (+34,000).