Employment Situation Summary
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Technical information: USDL 00-320
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THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: OCTOBER 2000
The unemployment rate held at 3.9 percent in October, and total nonfarm
employment rose by 137,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. Among the major industry divisions,
construction had the largest over-the-month gain, adding 34,000 jobs.
Employment was unchanged in manufacturing and little changed in services
and retail trade. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents over the month.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons, 5.5 million, was essentially
unchanged in October. The jobless rate (3.9 percent) has remained within
the 3.9- to 4.1-percent range since October 1999. Unemployment rates for
the major worker groups--adult men (3.4 percent), adult women (3.4
percent), teenagers (12.6 percent), whites (3.4 percent), and blacks (7.3
percent)--showed little change over the month. The rate for Hispanics
declined to 5.0 percent. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment, at 135.4 million, and the employment-population
ratio, at 64.4 percent, were essentially unchanged in October. The
civilian labor force was little changed at 140.9 million, and the labor
force participation rate was also about unchanged at 67.0 percent. (See
table A-1.)
In October, about 7.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held
more than one job. These multiple jobholders represented 5.6 percent of
total employment, compared with 6.0 percent a year earlier. (See table A-10.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 1.0 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally
attached to the labor force in October, compared with about 1.2 million a
year earlier. These people wanted and were available to work and had
looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as
unemployed, however, because they had not actively searched for work in the
4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers was
230,000 in October. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally
attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because they
believed no jobs were available for them. (See table A-10.)
- 2 -
Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
___________________________________________________________________________
| Quarterly | Monthly data |
| averages | |
|_________________|__________________________|Sept.-
Category | 2000 | 2000 | Oct.
|_________________|__________________________|change
| II | III | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. |
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force..| 140,827| 140,593| 140,742| 140,639| 140,918| 279
Employment..........| 135,200| 134,941| 134,912| 135,161| 135,422| 261
Unemployment........| 5,627| 5,652| 5,829| 5,477| 5,496| 19
Not in labor force....| 68,550| 69,348| 69,193| 69,522| 69,460| -62
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Unemployment rates
|____________________________________________________
All workers...........| 4.0| 4.0| 4.1| 3.9| 3.9| .0
Adult men...........| 3.3| 3.2| 3.2| 3.2| 3.4| 0.2
Adult women.........| 3.7| 3.6| 3.8| 3.5| 3.4| -.1
Teenagers...........| 12.3| 13.5| 14.4| 12.8| 12.6| -.2
White...............| 3.4| 3.5| 3.6| 3.5| 3.4| -.1
Black...............| 7.7| 7.6| 8.0| 7.0| 7.3| .3
Hispanic origin.....| 5.6| 5.6| 5.7| 5.6| 5.0| -.6
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment....| 131,552|p131,619| 131,528|p131,723|p131,860| p137
Goods-producing 1/..| 25,703| p25,670| 25,644| p25,610| p25,648| p38
Construction......| 6,676| p6,684| 6,675| p6,708| p6,742| p34
Manufacturing.....| 18,488| p18,448| 18,432| p18,363| p18,363| p0
Service-producing 1/| 105,849|p105,949| 105,884|p106,113|p106,212| p99
Retail trade......| 23,128| p23,186| 23,191| p23,170| p23,174| p4
Services..........| 40,272| p40,574| 40,572| p40,748| p40,765| p17
Government........| 20,827| p20,530| 20,510| p20,475| p20,495| p20
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Hours of work 2/
|____________________________________________________
Total private.........| 34.5| p34.4| 34.3| p34.4| p34.3| p-0.1
Manufacturing.......| 41.7| p41.4| 41.4| p41.2| p41.3| p.1
Overtime..........| 4.7| p4.5| 4.5| p4.4| p4.4| p.0
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (1982=100) 2/
|____________________________________________________
Total private.........| 151.2| p151.2| 150.9| p151.4| p151.5| p0.1
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Earnings 2/
|____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| $13.67| p$13.79| $13.80| p$13.83| p$13.89| p$0.06
Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| 471.50| p474.03| 473.34| p475.75| p476.43| p.68
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
1/ Includes other industries, not shown separately.
2/ Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
p=preliminary.
- 3 -
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 137,000 to 131.9 million in
October, seasonally adjusted. This compares to a September gain of 148,000
jobs (after adjusting for the net effect of strikes and the layoff of the
last sizable contingent of temporary census workers). Over the first 8
months of the year, the average monthly gain (after similar adjustments for
strikes and changes in the number of temporary census workers) was 195,000.
In October, employment gains occurred in several service-producing industry
divisions and in construction and mining. (See table B-1.)
In the goods-producing sector, employment in construction grew by
34,000 in October, seasonally adjusted, following a similar increase in
September. Construction employment had been little changed during the
summer; the seasonal layoffs that usually start in September have been
lighter than normal thus far this fall, resulting in seasonally-adjusted
employment increases.
Mining employment rose by 4,000 in October. Within mining, oil and gas
extraction continued to grow and has added 23,000 jobs since August 1999.
Employment in manufacturing was unchanged in October following 2 months
of sharp declines. Over the month, job losses continued in lumber,
apparel, and textiles. Motor vehicle employment also edged down and has
declined by 46,000 since July, in part reflecting measures to reduce
inventories of heavy trucks. In contrast, electronic components added
7,000 jobs in October, continuing its strong growth trend. Employment in
food and kindred products rose, following declines in the prior 2 months.
In the service-producing sector, employment in the services industry
was little changed in October, following 2 months of large increases. Thus
far this year, employment growth in this industry has averaged 106,000 a
month, slightly below the average for all of 1999. Help supply services
lost 82,000 jobs in October, more than offsetting a large gain in
September; employment in this industry has shown virtually no net growth
since March. Elsewhere in services, amusements and recreation employment
rose by 28,000 in October. Auto repair services added 10,000 jobs over the
month. Employment continued to increase in health services (17,000),
social services (16,000), engineering and management services (10,000), and
computer services (8,000).
Employment rose by 23,000 in transportation and public utilities in
October, well above the average of 14,000 for the first 9 months of this year.
The October strength was in air transportation (up 7,000) and communications
(up 8,000).
Finance, insurance, and real estate gained 20,000 jobs in October, the
third consecutive monthly increase. Employment in real estate rose by
12,000 over the month; this industry has added 25,000 jobs over the past 3
months. Employment in security brokerages also continued to grow, adding
4,000 jobs.
Wholesale trade employment grew by 15,000 in October and has increased
by 34,000 since July. All of the October gain was in nondurable goods.
Retail trade employment was essentially unchanged in October. A gain of
14,000 jobs in automotive dealers and service stations was largely offset
by a decline in general merchandise stores.
Government employment increased by 20,000 in October. All of this gain
occurred in state and local government. There was little over-the-month
change in the number of temporary census workers; only about 6,000 were
left on federal payrolls.
- 4 -
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on
private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour in October to 34.3 hours,
seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek was up by 0.1 hour to
41.3 hours, following a drop of 0.2 hour in September. Factory hours
remained well below the high levels that have prevailed over the last
several years. In October, manufacturing overtime was unchanged at 4.4
hours. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory
workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up to 151.5 (1982=100),
seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index increased by 0.2 percent to
104.8. (See table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on
private nonfarm payrolls increased by 6 cents in October to $13.89,
seasonally adjusted. Over the month, average weekly earnings edged up by
0.1 percent to $476.43. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 3.8
percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.2 percent. Since February
1999, 12-month growth rates in hourly earnings have remained in the range
of 3.5 to 3.8 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________
The Employment Situation for November 2000 is scheduled to be released
on Friday, December 8, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).
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| New Seasonal Factors for Establishment Survey Data |
| Following usual practice, the 6-month updates to seasonal adjust- |
|ment factors for the establishment survey data will be introduced |
|with next month's release of November data. These factors will be |
|used for the September 2000 through April 2001 estimates and will |
|be published in the December 2000 issue of Employment and Earnings. |
|These factors will be available on Friday, December 1, on the Internet|
|(http://stats.bls.gov/ceshome.htm) or by calling (202) 691-6555. |
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Last modified:
Friday, November 03, 2000
URL: /news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
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Labor Force Statistics from the Current
Population Survey