Technical information: USDL 96-414
Household data: (202) 606-6378
606-6373 Transmission of material in this
release is embargoed until
Establishment data: 606-6555 8:30 A.M. (EDT),
Media contact: 606-5902 Friday, October 4, 1996.
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: SEPTEMBER 1996
Both unemployment and nonfarm payroll employment were essentially
unchanged in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. The jobless rate was 5.2 percent in
September; it had been 5.1 percent in August. Payroll employment fell in
manufacturing and local government in September, and growth slowed in
several other major industries. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents
over the month.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
About 7.0 million persons were unemployed in September and the
unemployment rate was 5.2 percent. Both measures were about the same as
they had been in August. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment
rate for adult men rose by 0.3 percentage point to 4.5 percent, while the
rate for teenagers fell to 15.6 percent. (See table A-1.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment, at 127.4 million in September, continued to trend
upward. The proportion of the population 16 years and over that was
employed (the employment-population ratio) remained at 63.3 percent. The
number of employed persons has increased by about 2.3 million over the past
year, and the employment-population ratio has risen by half a percentage
point. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons who held more than one job in September was 7.8
million (not seasonally adjusted). These multiple jobholders comprised 6.1
percent of the total employed. This multiple jobholding rate was the same
for men and women. (See table A-9.)
The civilian labor force grew by 455,000 in September to 134.3 million,
more than offsetting a decline in the previous month. The labor force has
grown by 1.8 million since September 1995. (See table A-1.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally
attached to the labor force in September--that is, they wanted and were
available for work but had stopped looking for jobs sometime in the prior
12 months. Of this total, discouraged workers--those who were no longer
looking specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them-
-numbered 391,000. (See table A-9.)
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Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
___________________________________________________________________________
| Quarterly | Monthly data |
| averages | |
|_________________|__________________________|Aug.-
Category | 1996 | 1996 |Sept.
|_________________|__________________________|change
| II | III | July | Aug. | Sept. |
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force..| 133,647| 134,135| 134,181| 133,885| 134,340| 455
Employment..........| 126,389| 127,102| 126,884| 127,055| 127,368| 313
Unemployment........| 7,258| 7,033| 7,297| 6,830| 6,971| 141
Not in labor force....| 66,633| 66,715| 66,460| 66,962| 66,721| -241
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Unemployment rates
|____________________________________________________
All workers...........| 5.4| 5.2| 5.4| 5.1| 5.2| 0.1
Adult men...........| 4.7| 4.5| 4.7| 4.2| 4.5| .3
Adult women.........| 4.8| 4.7| 4.9| 4.6| 4.5| -.1
Teenagers...........| 16.3| 16.4| 16.4| 17.2| 15.6| -1.6
White...............| 4.7| 4.5| 4.7| 4.4| 4.5| .1
Black...............| 10.3| 10.5| 10.5| 10.5| 10.5| .0
Hispanic origin.....| 9.2| 8.7| 9.0| 8.7| 8.2| -.5
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment....| 119,272|p119,937| 119,789|p120,030|p119,990| p-40
Goods-producing 1/..| 24,249| p24,268| 24,265| p24,295| p24,245| p-50
Construction......| 5,380| p5,437| 5,427| p5,438| p5,447| p9
Manufacturing.....| 18,294| p18,261| 18,268| p18,286| p18,229| p-57
Service-producing 1/| 95,024| p95,668| 95,524| p95,735| p95,745| p10
Retail trade......| 21,499| p21,682| 21,672| p21,676| p21,698| p22
Services..........| 34,257| p34,527| 34,463| p34,532| p34,586| p54
Government........| 19,435| p19,528| 19,482| p19,591| p19,510| p-81
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Hours of work 2/
|____________________________________________________
Total private.........| 34.4| p34.5| 34.2| p34.5| p34.7| p0.2
Manufacturing.......| 41.7| p41.7| 41.6| p41.7| p41.8| p.1
Overtime..........| 4.6| p4.5| 4.4| p4.5| p4.5| p.0
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Earnings 2/
|____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| $11.76| p$11.86| $11.81| p$11.86| p$11.92| p$0.06
Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| 404.56| p408.90| 403.90| p409.17| p413.62| p4.45
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
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)
Nonfarm payroll employment was about unchanged in September at 120.0
million, after seasonal adjustment, as private sector employment growth
slowed markedly and government employment declined. (See table B-1.)
Manufacturing employment declined by 57,000 in September; industry
losses now total 331,000 since the most recent peak in March 1995. Job
losses were widespread in September, with the largest declines occurring in
industrial machinery and transportation equipment. In the latter industry,
there has been no net job growth since June. Within nondurable goods, job
losses continued in several industries, including food and kindred
products, printing and publishing, and apparel.
Construction employment increased by only 9,000 in September. Growth in
the industry has slowed considerably in the past 2 months, following
relatively strong gains over the first 7 months of the year. The long-term
decline in mining employment continued.
Within the service-producing sector, government employment fell by
81,000 in September. This was due mainly to a seasonally adjusted decline
of 67,000 in local education, following unusually large gains in the prior
3 months. Changing seasonal patterns due to the earlier start of the
school year and the trend toward year-round schools have shifted some of
the seasonal job growth in education to the summer months. Despite this
drop in September, employment in local education still has expanded by
95,000 since May. Losses continued in federal government employment, where
job declines have approached a quarter million since the most recent
employment peak in May 1992.
Employment growth in services slowed further in September. The increase
of 54,000 was just under half of the average monthly gain recorded in the
first half of the year and smaller than the modest increases of July and
August. Employment growth in September was weak in business and private
educational services, and employment declined in child day care. In
contrast, employment in health services grew by 30,000, following 3 months
of sluggishness.
Retail trade added only 22,000 jobs in September, half the average
monthly gain of the past year. Employment declined in general merchandise
and apparel stores and grew moderately in eating and drinking places. While
the pace of job growth in wholesale trade has slowed considerably since
March, the September increase of 5,000 was especially small.
Employment in finance, insurance, and real estate increased modestly in
September. Employment growth accelerated in insurance, but employment in
finance and real estate was little changed over the month. Gains in
transportation and public utilities employment were relatively small for
the third consecutive month. Within transportation, there was a small
increase in air transportation, but employment in trucking and warehousing
was flat over the month and has shown no net growth since late last year.
- 4 -
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls rose 0.2 hour in September to 34.7 hours, seasonally
adjusted. The manufacturing workweek edged up 0.1 hour to 41.8 hours, and
factory overtime was unchanged at 4.5 hours. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or
nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose 0.7 percent in September to
138.0 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted, largely reflecting the increase in
the average workweek. The manufacturing index edged down 0.2 percent to
106.1. (See table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers
on nonfarm payrolls rose 6 cents in September to $11.92, seasonally
adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 1.1 percent to $413.62.
Over the past year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.5 percent,
and average weekly earnings have risen by 4.4 percent. (See table B-3.)
-------------------------------------------------------------
| The August and September 1996 establishment-based |
|employment data in this release incorporate corrected |
|seasonal adjustment factors. Factors previously |
|published for March-October 1996 were found to contain |
|a minor computational error. BLS will publish the |
|corrected seasonally adjusted employment, hours, and |
|earnings data for March-September 1996 in the October |
|issue of Employment and Earnings. These series also |
|will be available, beginning October 18, on the INTERNET |
|(Address: http://stats.bls.gov:80/cgi-bin/dsrv?ee) or |
|by calling FAXSTAT at (202) 606-6325 and requesting |
|document 3030. All revisions are expected to be minor. |
|Revised seasonal factors for the August-October 1996 |
|employment series are now available on the INTERNET (Address:|
|ftp://stats.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ee/sfae0996.dat) |
|or by calling the number shown above and asking for |
|document 1510. |
-------------------------------------------------------------
_________________________
The Employment Situation for October 1996 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, November 1, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).
- 5 -
Explanatory Note
This news release presents statistics from two major surveys, the Current
Population Survey (household survey) and the Current Employment Statistics
survey (establishment survey). The household survey provides the
information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment that appears
in the A tables, marked HOUSEHOLD DATA. It is a sample survey of about
50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS).
The establishment survey provides the information on the employment,
hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls that appears in the B
tables, marked ESTABLISHMENT DATA. This information is collected from
payroll records by BLS in cooperation with State agencies. In June 1996,
the sample included about 390,000 establishments employing over 47 million
people.
For both surveys, the data for a given month relate to a particular week
or pay period. In the household survey, the reference week is generally
the calendar week that contains the 12th day of the month. In the
establishment survey, the reference period is the pay period including the
12th, which may or may not correspond directly to the calendar week.
Coverage, definitions, and differences between surveys
Household survey. The sample is selected to reflect the entire
civilian noninstitutional population. Based on responses to a series of
questions on work and job search activities, each person 16 years and over
in a sample household is classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the
labor force.
People are classified as employed if they did any work at all as paid
employees during the reference week; worked in their own business,
profession, or on their own farm; or worked without pay at least 15 hours
in a family business or farm. People are also counted as employed if they
were temporarily absent from their jobs because of illness, bad weather,
vacation, labor-management disputes, or personal reasons.
People are classified as unemployed if they meet all of the following
criteria: They had no employment during the reference week; they were
available for work at that time; and they made specific efforts to find
employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference
week. Persons laid off from a job and expecting recall need not be
looking for work to be counted as unemployed. The unemployment data
derived from the household survey in no way depend upon the eligibility for
or receipt of unemployment insurance benefits.
The civilian labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed
persons. Those not classified as employed or unemployed are not in the
labor force. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a percent
of the labor force. The labor force participation rate is the labor force
as a percent of the population, and the employment-population ratio is the
employed as a percent of the population.
Establishment survey. The sample establishments are drawn from private
nonfarm businesses such as factories, offices, and stores, as well as
Federal, State, and local government entities. Employees on nonfarm
payrolls are those who received pay for any part of the reference pay
period, including persons on paid leave. Persons are counted in each job
they hold. Hours and earnings data are for private businesses and relate
only to production workers in the goods-producing sector and nonsupervisory
workers in the service-producing sector.
- 6 -
Differences in employment estimates. The numerous conceptual and
methodological differences between the household and establishment surveys
result in important distinctions in the employment estimates derived from
the surveys. Among these are:
--The household survey includes agricultural workers, the self-employed,
unpaid family workers, and private household workers among the employed.
These groups are excluded from the establishment survey.
--The household survey includes people on unpaid leave among the
employed. The establishment survey does not.
--The household survey is limited to workers 16 years of age and older.
The establishment survey is not limited by age.
--The household survey has no duplication of individuals, because
individuals are counted only once, even if they hold more than one job. In
the establishment survey, employees working at more than one job and thus
appearing on more than one payroll would be counted separately for each
appearance.
Other differences between the two surveys are described in "Comparing
Employment Estimates from Household and Payroll Surveys," which may be
obtained from BLS upon request.
Seasonal adjustment
Over the course of a year, the size of the nation's labor force and the
levels of employment and unemployment undergo sharp fluctuations due to
such seasonal events as changes in weather, reduced or expanded production,
harvests, major holidays, and the opening and closing of schools. The
effect of such seasonal variation can be very large; seasonal
fluctuations may account for as much as 95 percent of the month-to-month
changes in unemployment.
Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each
year, their influence on statistical trends can be eliminated by adjusting
the statistics from month to month. These adjustments make nonseasonal
developments, such as declines in economic activity or increases in the
participation of women in the labor force, easier to spot. For example,
the large number of youth entering the labor force each June is likely to
obscure any other changes that have taken place relative to May, making it
difficult to determine if the level of economic activity has risen or
declined. However, because the effect of students finishing school in
previous years is known, the statistics for the current year can be
adjusted to allow for a comparable change. Insofar as the seasonal
adjustment is made correctly, the adjusted figure provides a more useful
tool with which to analyze changes in economic activity.
In both the household and establishment surveys, most seasonally adjusted
series are independently adjusted. However, the adjusted series for many
major estimates, such as total payroll employment, employment in most major
industry divisions, total employment, and unemployment are computed by
aggregating independently adjusted component series. For example, total
unemployment is derived by summing the adjusted series for four major age-
sex components; this differs from the unemployment estimate that would be
obtained by directly adjusting the total or by combining the duration,
reasons, or more detailed age categories.
The numerical factors used to make the seasonal adjustments are
recalculated twice a year. For the household survey, the factors are
calculated for the January-June period and again for the July-December
- 7 -
period. For the establishment survey, updated factors for seasonal
adjustment are calculated for the May-October period and introduced along
with new benchmarks, and again for the November-April period. In both
surveys, revisions to historical data are made once a year.
Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the household and establishment surveys are subject
to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample rather than the
entire population is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates
may differ from the "true" population values they represent. The exact
difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the particular sample
selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the
estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that
an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard
errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error. BLS
analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.
For example, the confidence interval for the monthly change in total
employment from the household survey is on the order of plus or minus
376,000. Suppose the estimate of total employment increases by 100,000
from one month to the next. The 90-percent confidence interval on the
monthly change would range from -276,000 to 476,000 (100,000 +/- 376,000).
These figures do not mean that the sample results are off by these
magnitudes, but rather that there is about a 90-percent chance that the
"true" over-the-month change lies within this interval. Since this range
includes values of less than zero, we could not say with confidence that
employment had, in fact, increased. If, however, the reported employment
rise was half a million, then all of the values within the 90-percent
confidence interval would be greater than zero. In this case, it is likely
(at least a 90-percent chance) that an employment rise had, in fact,
occurred. The 90-percent confidence interval for the monthly change in
unemployment is +/- 258,000, and for the monthly change in the unemployment
rate it is +/- .21 percentage point.
In general, estimates involving many individuals or establishments have
lower standard errors (relative to the size of the estimate) than estimates
which are based on a small number of observations. The precision of
estimates is also improved when the data are cumulated over time such as
for quarterly and annual averages. The seasonal adjustment process can
also improve the stability of the monthly estimates.
The household and establishment surveys are also affected by nonsampling
error. Nonsampling errors can occur for many reasons, including the
failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain
information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness
of respondents to provide correct information on a timely basis, mistakes
made by respondents, and errors made in the collection or processing of the
data.
For example, in the establishment survey, estimates for the most recent 2
months are based on substantially incomplete returns; for this reason,
these estimates are labeled preliminary in the tables. It is only after
two successive revisions to a monthly estimate, when nearly all sample
reports have been received, that the estimate is considered final.
Another major source of nonsampling error in the establishment survey is
the inability to capture, on a timely basis, employment generated by new
firms. To correct for this systematic underestimation of employment growth
(and other sources of error), a process known as bias adjustment is
included in the survey's estimating procedures, whereby a specified number
of jobs is added to the monthly sample-based change. The size of the
- 8 -
monthly bias adjustment is based largely on past relationships between the
sample-based estimates of employment and the total counts of employment
described below.
The sample-based estimates from the establishment survey are adjusted
once a year (on a lagged basis) to universe counts of payroll employment
obtained from administrative records of the unemployment insurance program.
The difference between the March sample-based employment estimates and the
March universe counts is known as a benchmark revision, and serves as a
rough proxy for total survey error. The new benchmarks also incorporate
changes in the classification of industries. Over the past decade, the
benchmark revision for total nonfarm employment has averaged 0.2 percent,
ranging from zero to 0.6 percent.
Additional statistics and other information
More comprehensive statistics are contained in Employment and Earnings,
published each month by BLS. It is available for $13.00 per issue or
$35.00 per year from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
20402. All orders must be prepaid by sending a check or money order
payable to the Superintendent of Documents, or by charging to Mastercard or
Visa.
Employment and Earnings also provides measures of sampling error for the
household survey data published in this release. For unemployment and
other labor force categories, these measures appear in tables 1-B through 1-
H of its "Explanatory Notes." Measures of the reliability of the data
drawn from the establishment survey and the actual amounts of revision due
to benchmark adjustments are provided in tables 2-B through 2-G of that
publication.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-
5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted(1)
Employment status, sex, and age
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 199,005 200,847 201,060 199,005 200,278 200,459 200,641 200,847 201,060
Civilian labor force.......................... 132,341 135,011 134,230 132,501 133,910 133,669 134,181 133,885 134,340
Participation rate...................... 66.5 67.2 66.8 66.6 66.9 66.7 66.9 66.7 66.8
Employed.................................... 125,173 128,143 127,529 125,036 126,462 126,610 126,884 127,055 127,368
Employment-population ratio............. 62.9 63.8 63.4 62.8 63.1 63.2 63.2 63.3 63.3
Agriculture............................... 3,430 3,706 3,607 3,335 3,491 3,382 3,502 3,421 3,535
Nonagricultural industries................ 121,744 124,437 123,922 121,701 122,971 123,228 123,382 123,635 123,833
Unemployed.................................. 7,167 6,868 6,700 7,465 7,448 7,060 7,297 6,830 6,971
Unemployment rate....................... 5.4 5.1 5.0 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.2
Not in labor force............................ 66,664 65,836 66,831 66,504 66,368 66,790 66,460 66,962 66,721
Men, 16 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 95,397 96,335 96,447 95,397 96,048 96,140 96,230 96,335 96,447
Civilian labor force.......................... 71,288 72,888 72,028 71,348 72,241 72,121 72,375 71,973 72,102
Participation rate...................... 74.7 75.7 74.7 74.8 75.2 75.0 75.2 74.7 74.8
Employed.................................... 67,646 69,533 68,614 67,328 68,278 68,283 68,400 68,442 68,319
Employment-population ratio............. 70.9 72.2 71.1 70.6 71.1 71.0 71.1 71.0 70.8
Unemployed.................................. 3,642 3,355 3,413 4,020 3,964 3,837 3,975 3,531 3,783
Unemployment rate....................... 5.1 4.6 4.7 5.6 5.5 5.3 5.5 4.9 5.2
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 87,940 88,650 88,733 87,940 88,530 88,570 88,614 88,650 88,733
Civilian labor force.......................... 67,374 68,390 68,140 67,286 68,064 68,118 68,274 68,114 68,072
Participation rate...................... 76.6 77.1 76.8 76.5 76.9 76.9 77.0 76.8 76.7
Employed.................................... 64,417 65,725 65,353 64,023 64,818 64,962 65,094 65,286 64,978
Employment-population ratio............. 73.3 74.1 73.7 72.8 73.2 73.3 73.5 73.6 73.2
Agriculture............................... 2,375 2,477 2,439 2,296 2,337 2,292 2,381 2,352 2,377
Nonagricultural industries................ 62,042 63,248 62,914 61,727 62,480 62,669 62,713 62,933 62,601
Unemployed.................................. 2,957 2,665 2,788 3,263 3,246 3,157 3,179 2,829 3,094
Unemployment rate....................... 4.4 3.9 4.1 4.8 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.2 4.5
Women, 16 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 103,608 104,512 104,614 103,608 104,230 104,319 104,411 104,512 104,614
Civilian labor force.......................... 61,053 62,123 62,202 61,153 61,669 61,548 61,806 61,912 62,238
Participation rate...................... 58.9 59.4 59.5 59.0 59.2 59.0 59.2 59.2 59.5
Employed.................................... 57,527 58,610 58,915 57,708 58,184 58,326 58,484 58,613 59,049
Employment-population ratio............. 55.5 56.1 56.3 55.7 55.8 55.9 56.0 56.1 56.4
Unemployed.................................. 3,525 3,514 3,287 3,445 3,485 3,222 3,322 3,299 3,189
Unemployment rate....................... 5.8 5.7 5.3 5.6 5.7 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.1
Women, 20 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 96,408 97,146 97,226 96,408 96,925 96,999 97,064 97,146 97,226
Civilian labor force.......................... 57,520 57,992 58,548 57,387 57,915 57,893 58,102 58,225 58,356
Participation rate...................... 59.7 59.7 60.2 59.5 59.8 59.7 59.9 59.9 60.0
Employed.................................... 54,586 55,026 55,776 54,568 55,014 55,211 55,266 55,522 55,711
Employment-population ratio............. 56.6 56.6 57.4 56.6 56.8 56.9 56.9 57.2 57.3
Agriculture............................... 793 880 890 778 831 842 863 829 881
Nonagricultural industries................ 53,793 54,146 54,886 53,790 54,183 54,369 54,403 54,693 54,831
Unemployed.................................. 2,934 2,966 2,772 2,819 2,901 2,682 2,837 2,704 2,645
Unemployment rate....................... 5.1 5.1 4.7 4.9 5.0 4.6 4.9 4.6 4.5
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian noninstitutional population........... 14,657 15,051 15,101 14,657 14,823 14,890 14,963 15,051 15,101
Civilian labor force.......................... 7,447 8,629 7,541 7,828 7,932 7,658 7,805 7,545 7,911
Participation rate...................... 50.8 57.3 49.9 53.4 53.5 51.4 52.2 50.1 52.4
Employed.................................... 6,170 7,392 6,401 6,445 6,630 6,437 6,524 6,248 6,679
Employment-population ratio............. 42.1 49.1 42.4 44.0 44.7 43.2 43.6 41.5 44.2
Agriculture............................... 262 349 278 261 323 248 258 240 278
Nonagricultural industries................ 5,908 7,043 6,123 6,184 6,308 6,189 6,266 6,008 6,401
Unemployed.................................. 1,277 1,237 1,140 1,383 1,301 1,221 1,280 1,297 1,232
Unemployment rate....................... 17.1 14.3 15.1 17.7 16.4 15.9 16.4 17.2 15.6
1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted
and seasonally adjusted columns.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, age, and Hispanic origin
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted(1)
Employment status, race, sex, age, and
Hispanic origin
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
WHITE
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 167,200 168,489 168,639 167,200 168,098 168,222 168,345 168,489 168,639
Civilian labor force.......................... 112,039 113,713 113,275 112,113 113,109 112,941 113,076 112,832 113,316
Participation rate........................ 67.0 67.5 67.2 67.1 67.3 67.1 67.2 67.0 67.2
Employed.................................... 106,886 108,801 108,495 106,666 107,612 107,757 107,772 107,828 108,256
Employment-population ratio............... 63.9 64.6 64.3 63.8 64.0 64.1 64.0 64.0 64.2
Unemployed.................................. 5,152 4,912 4,780 5,447 5,497 5,184 5,304 5,004 5,060
Unemployment rate......................... 4.6 4.3 4.2 4.9 4.9 4.6 4.7 4.4 4.5
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 57,773 58,553 58,369 57,715 58,340 58,426 58,456 58,354 58,303
Participation rate........................ 77.0 77.5 77.2 76.9 77.4 77.5 77.5 77.3 77.1
Employed.................................... 55,595 56,568 56,344 55,250 55,914 56,047 56,079 56,174 56,008
Employment-population ratio............... 74.1 74.9 74.6 73.7 74.2 74.3 74.3 74.4 74.1
Unemployed.................................. 2,178 1,985 2,024 2,465 2,426 2,379 2,376 2,179 2,295
Unemployment rate......................... 3.8 3.4 3.5 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.7 3.9
Women, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 48,074 47,960 48,536 47,876 48,103 47,956 47,981 48,124 48,286
Participation rate........................ 59.6 59.1 59.8 59.3 59.4 59.2 59.2 59.3 59.5
Employed.................................... 45,988 45,847 46,591 45,851 45,976 46,063 46,009 46,217 46,406
Employment-population ratio............... 57.0 56.5 57.4 56.8 56.8 56.9 56.8 57.0 57.2
Unemployed.................................. 2,086 2,113 1,945 2,025 2,128 1,894 1,972 1,907 1,881
Unemployment rate......................... 4.3 4.4 4.0 4.2 4.4 3.9 4.1 4.0 3.9
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor force.......................... 6,192 7,200 6,370 6,522 6,666 6,558 6,639 6,354 6,726
Participation rate........................ 53.7 60.6 53.4 56.6 56.6 55.5 56.0 53.5 56.4
Employed.................................... 5,303 6,387 5,560 5,565 5,723 5,647 5,684 5,437 5,842
Employment-population ratio............... 46.0 53.7 46.6 48.3 48.6 47.8 48.0 45.7 49.0
Unemployed.................................. 889 813 811 957 943 911 955 917 885
Unemployment rate......................... 14.4 11.3 12.7 14.7 14.1 13.9 14.4 14.4 13.2
Men..................................... 15.2 12.1 13.8 15.8 15.2 14.7 16.6 15.6 14.5
Women................................... 13.4 10.5 11.5 13.4 12.9 13.0 12.0 13.2 11.8
BLACK
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 23,323 23,650 23,690 23,323 23,549 23,579 23,611 23,650 23,690
Civilian labor force.......................... 14,786 15,470 15,132 14,820 15,149 14,955 15,279 15,361 15,167
Participation rate........................ 63.4 65.4 63.9 63.5 64.3 63.4 64.7 65.0 64.0
Employed.................................... 13,173 13,792 13,547 13,181 13,599 13,451 13,671 13,750 13,569
Employment-population ratio............... 56.5 58.3 57.2 56.5 57.7 57.0 57.9 58.1 57.3
Unemployed.................................. 1,613 1,677 1,585 1,639 1,551 1,504 1,609 1,611 1,597
Unemployment rate......................... 10.9 10.8 10.5 11.1 10.2 10.1 10.5 10.5 10.5
Men, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 6,724 6,888 6,840 6,727 6,786 6,728 6,867 6,890 6,849
Participation rate........................ 72.3 73.2 72.6 72.3 72.2 71.5 72.9 73.2 72.7
Employed.................................... 6,120 6,320 6,190 6,096 6,136 6,110 6,233 6,326 6,177
Employment-population ratio............... 65.8 67.1 65.7 65.5 65.3 64.9 66.2 67.2 65.6
Unemployed.................................. 605 568 651 631 650 617 634 564 672
Unemployment rate......................... 9.0 8.2 9.5 9.4 9.6 9.2 9.2 8.2 9.8
Women, 20 years and over
Civilian labor force.......................... 7,135 7,478 7,429 7,122 7,373 7,373 7,504 7,511 7,417
Participation rate........................ 60.9 63.1 62.6 60.8 62.4 62.4 63.4 63.4 62.5
Employed.................................... 6,455 6,749 6,767 6,478 6,758 6,743 6,830 6,824 6,794
Employment-population ratio............... 55.1 57.0 57.0 55.3 57.2 57.0 57.7 57.6 57.3
Unemployed.................................. 681 728 662 644 615 630 674 687 623
Unemployment rate......................... 9.5 9.7 8.9 9.0 8.3 8.5 9.0 9.1 8.4
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years
Civilian labor force.......................... 927 1,104 863 971 990 854 908 960 901
Participation rate........................ 40.2 46.2 35.9 42.1 42.3 36.4 38.5 40.2 37.5
Employed.................................... 599 723 591 607 705 598 607 599 598
Employment-population ratio............... 26.0 30.3 24.6 26.3 30.1 25.4 25.8 25.1 24.9
Unemployed.................................. 328 381 272 364 286 256 301 361 303
Unemployment rate......................... 35.4 34.5 31.5 37.5 28.9 30.0 33.1 37.6 33.6
Men..................................... 31.9 36.4 32.1 36.0 27.4 35.3 43.3 38.6 36.6
Women................................... 38.6 32.4 30.9 38.9 30.2 25.0 20.9 36.5 30.7
HISPANIC ORIGIN
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 18,752 19,292 19,346 18,752 19,131 19,184 19,238 19,292 19,346
Civilian labor force.......................... 12,457 12,989 12,912 12,369 12,514 12,576 12,641 12,877 12,822
Participation rate........................ 66.4 67.3 66.7 66.0 65.4 65.6 65.7 66.7 66.3
Employed.................................... 11,374 11,844 11,895 11,247 11,365 11,472 11,500 11,750 11,766
Employment-population ratio............... 60.7 61.4 61.5 60.0 59.4 59.8 59.8 60.9 60.8
Unemployed.................................. 1,083 1,145 1,016 1,122 1,149 1,104 1,141 1,127 1,057
Unemployment rate......................... 8.7 8.8 7.9 9.1 9.2 8.8 9.0 8.7 8.2
1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted
and seasonally adjusted columns.
NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races"
group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-3. Selected employment indicators
(In thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Category
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
CHARACTERISTIC
Total employed, 16 years and over............... 125,173 128,143 127,529 125,036 126,462 126,610 126,884 127,055 127,368
Married men, spouse present................... 42,468 42,622 42,603 42,178 42,406 42,587 42,478 42,622 42,265
Married women, spouse present................. 32,175 32,209 32,798 32,180 32,330 32,649 32,713 32,732 32,765
Women who maintain families................... 7,171 7,276 7,443 7,155 7,314 7,360 7,230 7,291 7,443
OCCUPATION
Managerial and professional specialty......... 35,596 36,265 36,759 35,607 36,257 36,696 36,361 36,520 36,741
Technical, sales, and administrative support.. 37,380 37,971 37,725 37,504 37,681 37,683 37,795 37,858 37,801
Service occupations........................... 16,582 17,571 17,200 16,932 17,312 17,215 17,418 17,397 17,533
Precision production, craft, and repair....... 13,655 14,029 13,881 13,486 13,439 13,572 13,439 13,701 13,717
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.......... 18,164 18,344 18,199 18,002 18,282 18,137 18,392 18,075 18,047
Farming, forestry, and fishing................ 3,795 3,962 3,766 3,588 3,560 3,472 3,594 3,500 3,576
CLASS OF WORKER
Agriculture:
Wage and salary workers..................... 1,836 1,991 1,899 1,754 2,026 1,900 1,863 1,802 1,833
Self-employed workers....................... 1,554 1,635 1,616 1,525 1,456 1,457 1,564 1,528 1,597
Unpaid family workers....................... 40 79 92 43 46 35 52 65 97
Nonagricultural industries:
Wage and salary workers..................... 112,615 115,358 114,960 112,586 114,032 114,130 114,294 114,634 114,908
Government................................ 18,214 17,737 18,052 18,249 18,256 18,329 18,294 18,286 18,088
Private industries........................ 94,401 97,620 96,908 94,337 95,776 95,801 96,000 96,348 96,820
Private households...................... 944 1,030 976 959 918 812 935 1,009 1,006
Other industries........................ 93,457 96,590 95,932 93,378 94,858 94,989 95,065 95,339 95,814
Self-employed workers....................... 9,008 8,956 8,825 8,954 8,878 9,073 8,998 8,876 8,763
Unpaid family workers....................... 120 124 138 112 124 136 130 121 127
PERSONS AT WORK PART TIME
All industries:
Part time for economic reasons.............. 4,217 4,407 4,012 4,502 4,277 4,301 4,366 4,354 4,309
Slack work or business conditions......... 2,307 2,388 2,215 2,526 2,216 2,322 2,589 2,477 2,426
Could only find part-time work............ 1,608 1,615 1,531 1,706 1,719 1,569 1,494 1,610 1,616
Part time for noneconomic reasons........... 18,282 15,459 18,223 17,842 17,620 18,211 17,814 18,229 17,710
Nonagricultural industries:
Part time for economic reasons.............. 4,073 4,218 3,852 4,355 4,068 4,146 4,159 4,205 4,128
Slack work or business conditions......... 2,198 2,242 2,114 2,413 2,092 2,215 2,457 2,350 2,318
Could only find part-time work............ 1,586 1,586 1,495 1,675 1,663 1,542 1,479 1,600 1,574
Part time for noneconomic reasons........... 17,649 14,866 17,530 17,218 17,038 17,623 17,157 17,613 17,036
NOTE: Persons at work excludes employed persons who were absent from their jobs during the entire reference week for
reasons such as vacation, illness, or industrial dispute. Part time for noneconomic reasons excludes persons who usually
work full time but worked only 1 to 34 hours during the reference week for reasons such as holidays, illness, and bad
weather.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-4. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
Number of
unemployed persons Unemployment rates(1)
(in thousands)
Category
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
CHARACTERISTIC
Total, 16 years and over....................... 7,465 6,830 6,971 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.2
Men, 20 years and over....................... 3,263 2,829 3,094 4.8 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.2 4.5
Women, 20 years and over..................... 2,819 2,704 2,645 4.9 5.0 4.6 4.9 4.6 4.5
Both sexes, 16 to 19 years................... 1,383 1,297 1,232 17.7 16.4 15.9 16.4 17.2 15.6
Married men, spouse present.................. 1,496 1,258 1,323 3.4 2.9 3.0 3.0 2.9 3.0
Married women, spouse present................ 1,298 1,085 1,106 3.9 3.8 3.6 3.5 3.2 3.3
Women who maintain families.................. 619 704 674 8.0 8.7 7.6 9.1 8.8 8.3
Full-time workers............................ 5,955 5,363 5,611 5.5 5.5 5.2 5.3 4.9 5.1
Part-time workers............................ 1,473 1,476 1,359 5.9 5.9 5.6 6.1 5.9 5.6
OCCUPATION(2)
Managerial and professional specialty........ 884 786 883 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.1 2.3
Technical, sales, and administrative support. 1,746 1,685 1,767 4.4 4.7 4.1 4.6 4.3 4.5
Precision production, craft, and repair...... 887 754 798 6.2 5.3 5.2 5.5 5.2 5.5
Operators, fabricators, and laborers......... 1,646 1,534 1,422 8.4 8.3 7.9 7.7 7.8 7.3
Farming, forestry, and fishing............... 285 216 269 7.4 9.1 7.7 6.3 5.8 7.0
INDUSTRY
Nonagricultural private wage and salary
workers...................................... 5,846 5,418 5,366 5.8 5.7 5.5 5.5 5.3 5.3
Goods-producing industries................. 1,848 1,582 1,514 6.6 6.2 6.1 5.9 5.6 5.4
Mining................................... 20 25 31 3.3 2.1 4.7 2.8 4.4 5.1
Construction............................. 800 575 593 12.4 10.0 9.5 10.1 8.8 9.1
Manufacturing............................ 1,028 981 890 4.9 5.1 5.1 4.6 4.7 4.3
Durable goods.......................... 517 464 497 4.2 4.8 4.6 4.2 3.8 4.0
Nondurable goods....................... 511 517 394 5.9 5.5 5.7 5.3 6.0 4.6
Service-producing industries............... 3,998 3,836 3,852 5.5 5.6 5.2 5.4 5.2 5.2
Transportation and public utilities...... 318 303 285 4.5 4.2 4.5 4.3 4.2 4.0
Wholesale and retail trade............... 1,813 1,664 1,579 6.9 6.6 6.4 6.3 6.3 6.0
Finance, insurance, and real estate...... 219 177 241 3.1 2.5 2.6 2.8 2.4 3.2
Services................................. 1,648 1,692 1,747 5.2 5.7 5.1 5.5 5.2 5.3
Government workers........................... 524 500 552 2.8 3.3 2.7 3.2 2.7 3.0
Agricultural wage and salary workers......... 231 144 226 11.6 10.0 9.2 8.6 7.4 11.0
1 Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.
2 Seasonally adjusted unemployment data for service occupations are not available because the seasonal component, which
is small relative to the trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-5. Duration of unemployment
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Duration
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
Less than 5 weeks.............................. 2,916 2,364 2,581 2,786 2,815 2,485 2,701 2,486 2,446
5 to 14 weeks.................................. 2,075 2,402 1,998 2,317 2,334 2,160 2,322 2,129 2,245
15 weeks and over.............................. 2,176 2,102 2,122 2,323 2,336 2,435 2,319 2,248 2,279
15 to 26 weeks.............................. 953 835 935 1,054 1,020 1,116 958 978 1,054
27 weeks and over........................... 1,223 1,268 1,187 1,269 1,317 1,319 1,361 1,270 1,225
Average (mean) duration, in weeks.............. 16.2 17.3 16.9 16.3 16.8 17.6 16.8 17.4 17.0
Median duration, in weeks...................... 7.8 8.6 8.5 8.1 8.3 8.1 8.6 8.5 8.9
PERCENT DISTRIBUTION
Total unemployed............................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Less than 5 weeks............................ 40.7 34.4 38.5 37.5 37.6 35.1 36.8 36.2 35.1
5 to 14 weeks................................ 28.9 35.0 29.8 31.2 31.2 30.5 31.6 31.0 32.2
15 weeks and over............................ 30.4 30.6 31.7 31.3 31.2 34.4 31.6 32.8 32.7
15 to 26 weeks............................. 13.3 12.2 14.0 14.2 13.6 15.8 13.1 14.3 15.1
27 weeks and over.......................... 17.1 18.5 17.7 17.1 17.6 18.6 18.5 18.5 17.6
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-6. Reason for unemployment
(Numbers in thousands)
Not seasonally Seasonally adjusted
adjusted
Reason
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs..... 3,017 2,932 2,812 3,422 3,388 3,431 3,343 3,054 3,225
On temporary layoff................................... 635 777 674 967 1,154 990 953 889 1,059
Not on temporary layoff............................... 2,382 2,155 2,138 2,455 2,234 2,441 2,391 2,165 2,167
Permanent job losers................................ 1,653 1,459 1,450 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Persons who completed temporary jobs................ 728 696 688 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Job leavers............................................. 961 808 892 875 661 676 749 773 807
Reentrants.............................................. 2,635 2,556 2,495 2,551 2,784 2,419 2,529 2,448 2,404
New entrants............................................ 555 573 500 601 532 528 623 548 545
PERCENT DISTRIBUTION
Total unemployed........................................
Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs.... 42.1 42.7 42.0 45.9 46.0 48.6 46.1 44.8 46.2
On temporary layoff.................................. 8.9 11.3 10.1 13.0 15.7 14.0 13.1 13.0 15.2
Not on temporary layoff.............................. 33.2 31.4 31.9 33.0 30.3 34.6 33.0 31.7 31.0
Job leavers............................................ 13.4 11.8 13.3 11.7 9.0 9.6 10.3 11.3 11.6
Reentrants............................................. 36.8 37.2 37.2 34.2 37.8 34.3 34.9 35.9 34.4
New entrants........................................... 7.7 8.3 7.5 8.1 7.2 7.5 8.6 8.0 7.8
UNEMPLOYED AS A PERCENT OF THE
CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE
Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs.... 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.4
Job leavers............................................ .7 .6 .7 .7 .5 .5 .6 .6 .6
Reentrants............................................. 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.8
New entrants........................................... .4 .4 .4 .5 .4 .4 .5 .4 .4
1 Not available.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-7. Range of alternative measures of labor underutilization
(Percent)
Not seasonally Seasonally adjusted
adjusted
Measure
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer,
as a percent of the civilian labor force....................... 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7
U-2 Job losers and persons who completed
temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian
labor force.................................................... 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.4
U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the
civilian labor force (official unemployment rate).............. 5.4 5.1 5.0 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.2
U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged
workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force
plus discouraged workers....................................... 5.7 5.4 5.3 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other
marginally attached workers, as a percent of the civilian
labor force plus all marginally attached workers............... 6.5 6.1 6.1 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus
total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of
the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.. 9.7 9.3 9.0 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
1 Not available.
NOTE: This range of alternative measures of labor underutilization replaces the U1-U7 range published in table A-7
of this release prior to 1994. Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking
for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past.
Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently
looking for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time
work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule. For further information, see "BLS introduces new range of
alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-8. Unemployed persons by sex and age, seasonally adjusted
Number of
unemployed persons Unemployment rates(1)
(in thousands)
Age and sex
Sept. Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996
Total, 16 years and over.......................... 7,465 6,830 6,971 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.2
16 to 24 years.................................. 2,687 2,380 2,386 12.6 12.2 11.7 12.2 11.5 11.2
16 to 19 years................................ 1,383 1,297 1,232 17.7 16.4 15.9 16.4 17.2 15.6
16 to 17 years.............................. 654 602 564 20.1 19.4 19.0 19.4 19.1 17.2
18 to 19 years.............................. 719 698 675 15.7 14.2 13.4 14.1 16.0 14.5
20 to 24 years................................ 1,304 1,083 1,153 9.7 9.7 9.3 9.7 8.3 8.7
25 years and over............................... 4,778 4,459 4,587 4.3 4.3 4.1 4.2 3.9 4.1
25 to 54 years................................ 4,201 3,945 4,096 4.4 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.2
55 years and over............................. 557 493 528 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.8 3.1 3.3
Men, 16 years and over.......................... 4,020 3,531 3,783 5.6 5.5 5.3 5.5 4.9 5.2
16 to 24 years................................ 1,451 1,237 1,306 12.8 12.9 12.4 13.3 11.5 11.9
16 to 19 years.............................. 757 702 689 18.6 17.2 17.0 19.4 18.2 17.1
16 to 17 years............................ 346 341 307 20.7 20.0 20.5 24.2 22.0 18.6
18 to 19 years............................ 401 362 383 16.8 15.4 14.2 16.1 15.9 16.1
20 to 24 years.............................. 694 535 618 9.6 10.4 9.7 9.8 7.7 8.8
25 years and over............................. 2,571 2,307 2,466 4.3 4.1 4.0 4.0 3.8 4.0
25 to 54 years.............................. 2,235 2,005 2,210 4.4 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.8 4.2
55 years and over........................... 331 291 287 3.8 3.3 3.5 3.8 3.2 3.2
Women, 16 years and over........................ 3,445 3,299 3,189 5.6 5.7 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.1
16 to 24 years................................ 1,236 1,144 1,079 12.3 11.4 11.0 10.9 11.6 10.6
16 to 19 years.............................. 626 595 544 16.6 15.6 14.8 13.1 16.2 14.0
16 to 17 years............................ 308 260 256 19.5 18.8 17.5 14.4 16.3 15.7
18 to 19 years............................ 318 336 292 14.5 12.9 12.5 11.8 16.0 12.9
20 to 24 years.............................. 610 548 535 9.8 8.8 8.7 9.5 8.9 8.5
25 years and over............................. 2,207 2,153 2,121 4.3 4.5 4.1 4.3 4.1 4.1
25 to 54 years.............................. 1,966 1,940 1,886 4.5 4.6 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.2
55 years and over........................... 226 202 241 3.2 3.9 3.6 3.7 2.9 3.4
1 Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-9. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Total Men Women
Category
Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept.
1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996
NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE
Total not in the labor force.................................... 66,664 66,831 24,109 24,419 42,556 42,412
Persons who currently want a job.............................. 5,514 5,219 2,100 1,948 3,414 3,271
Searched for work and available to work now(1)............. 1,583 1,518 679 681 903 836
Reason not currently looking:
Discouragement over job prospects(2).................. 341 391 193 218 148 173
Reasons other than discouragement(3)............... 1,242 1,127 487 464 755 663
MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS
Total multiple jobholders(4).................................... 7,666 7,808 4,157 4,197 3,510 3,611
Percent of total employed................................... 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1
Primary job full time, secondary job part time.............. 4,395 4,253 2,669 2,565 1,726 1,688
Primary and secondary jobs both part time................... 1,662 1,714 490 506 1,173 1,208
Primary and secondary jobs both full time................... 287 258 205 199 82 58
Hours vary on primary or secondary job...................... 1,296 1,547 790 914 506 633
1 Data refer to persons who have searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available to take a job during
the reference week.
2 Includes thinks no work available, could not find work, lacks schooling or training, employer thinks too young or
old, and other types of discrimination.
3 Includes those who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as child-care and
transportation problems, as well as a small number for which reason for nonparticipation was not determined.
4 Includes persons who work part time on their primary job and full time on their secondary job(s), not shown
separately.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry
(In thousands)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Industry
Sept. July Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996p 1996p 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996p 1996p
Total......................... 118,102 119,554 119,764 120,482 117,623 119,335 119,554 119,789 120,030 119,990
Total private.................... 98,998 101,163 101,486 101,238 98,298 99,877 100,103 100,307 100,439 100,480
Goods-producing......................... 24,588 24,547 24,759 24,679 24,176 24,262 24,275 24,265 24,295 24,245
Mining................................ 583 580 582 576 574 576 575 570 571 569
Metal mining........................ 51.0 53.0 53.1 52.2 51 52 52 52 52 52
Coal mining......................... 104.8 100.7 100.7 99.9 104 101 101 100 100 99
Oil and gas extraction.............. 317.2 314.2 315.1 311.5 313 316 314 310 311 310
Nonmetallic minerals, except fuels.. 109.6 112.4 113.1 112.1 106 107 108 108 108 108
Construction.......................... 5,469 5,744 5,783 5,741 5,187 5,384 5,403 5,427 5,438 5,447
General building contractors........ 1,238.9 1,288.3 1,295.2 1,276.3 1,195 1,229 1,233 1,231 1,232 1,232
Heavy construction, except building. 835.9 836.2 842.9 846.3 756 764 768 769 770 765
Special trade contractors........... 3,393.9 3,619.4 3,644.8 3,618.3 3,236 3,391 3,402 3,427 3,436 3,450
Manufacturing......................... 18,536 18,223 18,394 18,362 18,415 18,302 18,297 18,268 18,286 18,229
Production workers................ 12,856 12,540 12,713 12,713 12,747 12,632 12,635 12,612 12,622 12,588
Durable goods........................ 10,680 10,627 10,710 10,710 10,648 10,679 10,695 10,680 10,707 10,673
Production workers................ 7,319 7,248 7,327 7,343 7,294 7,302 7,327 7,311 7,337 7,309
Lumber and wood products............ 770.8 774.8 782.3 777.4 762 762 766 765 769 765
Furniture and fixtures.............. 506.6 491.5 501.4 501.3 506 500 500 500 500 500
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 545.9 544.2 547.9 547.0 536 537 536 535 536 535
Primary metal industries............ 708.7 695.2 706.8 707.6 707 705 708 700 706 705
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 239.8 238.4 239.2 238.6 240 239 239 237 237 238
Fabricated metal products........... 1,440.1 1,439.4 1,456.0 1,460.2 1,437 1,443 1,450 1,453 1,456 1,458
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 2,063.1 2,083.0 2,077.5 2,071.7 2,066 2,087 2,088 2,088 2,085 2,074
Computer and office equipment..... 352.1 359.5 358.8 355.8 352 360 359 357 359 356
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 1,634.0 1,646.4 1,650.0 1,649.6 1,633 1,652 1,651 1,656 1,652 1,649
Electronic components and
accessories.................... 591.3 616.1 615.3 612.2 591 615 614 616 615 612
Transportation equipment............ 1,784.4 1,741.4 1,768.0 1,776.3 1,780 1,773 1,775 1,766 1,786 1,774
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 972.9 933.1 958.8 964.8 968 965 967 953 968 961
Aircraft and parts................ 446.4 450.3 451.1 455.2 447 449 446 453 454 456
Instruments and related products.... 834.8 831.8 833.3 831.5 834 834 835 832 832 830
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 391.6 378.9 386.9 387.1 387 386 386 385 385 383
Nondurable goods..................... 7,856 7,596 7,684 7,652 7,767 7,623 7,602 7,588 7,579 7,556
Production workers................ 5,537 5,292 5,386 5,370 5,453 5,330 5,308 5,301 5,285 5,279
Food and kindred products........... 1,750.4 1,676.7 1,722.2 1,709.6 1,678 1,664 1,647 1,640 1,641 1,634
Tobacco products.................... 44.2 37.0 39.7 41.1 42 41 41 40 38 39
Textile mill products............... 659.5 631.1 637.9 635.2 657 637 637 637 634 633
Apparel and other textile products.. 921.9 828.9 840.8 841.2 913 853 847 849 835 833
Paper and allied products........... 690.7 676.9 679.6 676.6 690 679 676 672 674 673
Printing and publishing............. 1,536.1 1,526.0 1,525.6 1,519.0 1,539 1,525 1,528 1,527 1,527 1,522
Chemicals and allied products....... 1,032.0 1,024.6 1,026.0 1,019.5 1,030 1,025 1,020 1,019 1,020 1,018
Petroleum and coal products......... 144.3 142.5 143.1 141.0 142 139 140 139 140 139
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 971.3 960.7 974.0 973.6 972 963 969 968 976 972
Leather and leather products........ 105.5 91.9 95.4 94.9 104 97 97 97 94 93
Service-producing....................... 93,514 95,007 95,005 95,803 93,447 95,073 95,279 95,524 95,735 95,745
Transportation and public utilities... 6,234 6,326 6,330 6,395 6,194 6,311 6,327 6,335 6,340 6,343
Transportation...................... 3,971 4,028 4,029 4,106 3,936 4,028 4,043 4,053 4,054 4,060
Railroad transportation........... 238.5 231.9 233.4 233.4 236 232 231 229 231 232
Local and interurban passenger
transit........................ 443.0 393.7 390.5 472.9 430 450 453 459 459 458
Trucking and warehousing.......... 1,884.8 1,909.2 1,907.0 1,902.5 1,868 1,891 1,890 1,889 1,880 1,878
Water transportation.............. 176.9 182.1 179.8 177.9 174 167 171 172 173 172
Transportation by air............. 797.0 853.6 859.0 859.4 796 837 844 848 853 859
Pipelines, except natural gas..... 14.6 14.2 14.1 13.8 15 14 14 14 14 14
Transportation services........... 415.9 442.8 444.7 446.1 417 437 440 442 444 447
Communications and public utilities. 2,263 2,298 2,301 2,289 2,258 2,283 2,284 2,282 2,286 2,283
Communications.................... 1,349.6 1,397.3 1,403.5 1,400.7 1,346 1,384 1,388 1,391 1,398 1,397
Electric, gas, and sanitary
services....................... 913.0 900.3 897.6 888.2 912 899 896 891 888 886
Wholesale trade....................... 6,467 6,629 6,633 6,620 6,451 6,567 6,576 6,585 6,598 6,603
Durable goods....................... 3,761 3,886 3,885 3,870 3,764 3,850 3,858 3,862 3,870 3,873
Nondurable goods.................... 2,706 2,743 2,748 2,750 2,687 2,717 2,718 2,723 2,728 2,730
Retail trade.......................... 21,336 21,795 21,859 21,800 21,258 21,499 21,575 21,672 21,676 21,698
Building materials and garden
supplies......................... 878.1 954.7 946.9 935.3 873 907 917 922 924 930
General merchandise stores.......... 2,662.6 2,675.0 2,699.0 2,716.0 2,679 2,728 2,726 2,731 2,745 2,740
Department stores................. 2,338.5 2,363.4 2,387.6 2,404.8 2,350 2,409 2,408 2,413 2,422 2,418
Food stores......................... 3,371.3 3,456.3 3,459.3 3,447.1 3,379 3,416 3,422 3,435 3,445 3,444
Automotive dealers and service
stations......................... 2,213.8 2,312.6 2,316.4 2,312.2 2,199 2,259 2,272 2,286 2,291 2,297
New and used car dealers.......... 1,003.8 1,038.5 1,041.1 1,043.3 999 1,027 1,030 1,034 1,036 1,037
Apparel and accessory stores........ 1,097.5 1,093.7 1,099.6 1,080.4 1,112 1,100 1,101 1,103 1,099 1,097
Furniture and home furnishings
stores........................... 940.5 970.8 977.7 982.6 950 963 972 981 987 992
Eating and drinking places.......... 7,531.2 7,692.8 7,700.7 7,650.2 7,399 7,454 7,485 7,528 7,489 7,504
Miscellaneous retail establishments. 2,641.2 2,639.3 2,659.3 2,675.9 2,667 2,672 2,680 2,686 2,696 2,694
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 6,850 7,075 7,078 7,017 6,842 6,964 6,967 6,987 6,998 7,005
Finance............................. 3,233 3,354 3,361 3,338 3,239 3,315 3,319 3,329 3,339 3,340
Depository institutions........... 2,016.1 2,046.2 2,046.3 2,029.8 2,020 2,026 2,029 2,030 2,029 2,029
Commercial banks................ 1,461.6 1,484.9 1,484.8 1,472.4 1,464 1,469 1,470 1,471 1,471 1,473
Savings institutions............ 269.7 266.8 265.4 261.6 270 267 267 265 264 263
Nondepository institutions........ 465.0 515.6 519.7 519.6 466 507 509 514 519 521
Mortgage bankers and brokers.... 205.6 232.5 234.6 234.4 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Security and commodity brokers.... 524.0 547.9 551.0 545.6 524 538 541 543 548 546
Holding and other investment
offices........................ 228.2 244.0 243.8 243.3 229 244 240 242 243 244
Insurance........................... 2,240 2,273 2,267 2,261 2,244 2,261 2,259 2,261 2,259 2,264
Insurance carriers................ 1,541.7 1,560.8 1,556.8 1,551.5 1,544 1,552 1,551 1,553 1,551 1,554
Insurance agents, brokers, and
service........................ 698.2 711.7 709.8 709.0 700 709 708 708 708 710
Real estate......................... 1,377 1,448 1,450 1,418 1,359 1,388 1,389 1,397 1,400 1,401
Services2............................. 33,523 34,791 34,827 34,727 33,377 34,274 34,383 34,463 34,532 34,586
Agricultural services............... 612.6 686.1 677.1 650.0 581 605 615 619 620 615
Hotels and other lodging places..... 1,704.7 1,828.2 1,828.1 1,731.9 1,660 1,681 1,704 1,689 1,684 1,681
Personal services................... 1,134.4 1,133.9 1,135.6 1,149.3 1,164 1,177 1,175 1,174 1,179 1,180
Business services................... 6,980.8 7,244.1 7,349.2 7,382.2 6,877 7,152 7,189 7,225 7,270 7,275
Services to buildings............. 891.7 898.6 901.3 891.6 887 903 895 893 892 888
Personnel supply services......... 2,600.6 2,672.2 2,753.3 2,802.4 2,508 2,622 2,648 2,668 2,693 2,704
Help supply services............ 2,301.5 2,371.9 2,443.6 2,486.1 2,216 2,322 2,353 2,367 2,387 2,394
Computer and data processing
services....................... 1,103.8 1,205.2 1,218.7 1,224.7 1,107 1,184 1,195 1,206 1,218 1,226
Auto repair, services, and parking.. 1,028.4 1,105.7 1,110.0 1,109.6 1,025 1,078 1,085 1,096 1,103 1,105
Miscellaneous repair services....... 358.6 369.5 369.4 368.3 357 364 366 365 366 367
Motion pictures..................... 490.7 538.0 540.4 527.7 501 525 526 532 525 545
Amusement and recreation services... 1,537.3 1,775.5 1,764.9 1,595.6 1,463 1,516 1,504 1,514 1,515 1,512
Health services..................... 9,318.0 9,609.7 9,615.7 9,610.3 9,318 9,555 9,566 9,577 9,587 9,617
Offices and clinics of medical
doctors........................ 1,619.0 1,683.4 1,688.6 1,685.3 1,617 1,668 1,674 1,677 1,679 1,685
Nursing and personal care
facilities..................... 1,707.0 1,752.7 1,756.4 1,752.6 1,703 1,740 1,744 1,747 1,749 1,750
Hospitals......................... 3,790.5 3,865.8 3,858.3 3,857.9 3,793 3,851 3,847 3,850 3,849 3,863
Home health care services......... 639.3 657.0 655.2 658.6 638 658 657 656 655 655
Legal services...................... 917.5 946.5 940.3 925.5 923 929 929 933 935 932
Educational services................ 1,927.5 1,755.6 1,728.5 1,961.9 1,966 1,987 2,001 2,017 2,015 2,002
Social services..................... 2,348.5 2,381.8 2,368.6 2,390.9 2,359 2,395 2,396 2,404 2,393 2,406
Child day care services........... 576.2 515.2 522.6 563.5 569 571 570 568 576 557
Residential care.................. 642.5 674.8 677.3 669.3 645 663 665 669 672 673
Museums and botanical and zoological
gardens........................... 82.3 93.3 91.6 86.5 80 85 85 85 85 84
Membership organizations............ 2,114.7 2,211.0 2,184.0 2,127.4 2,131 2,147 2,148 2,146 2,149 2,144
Engineering and management services. 2,775.4 2,918.5 2,929.1 2,915.2 2,781 2,885 2,901 2,894 2,912 2,927
Engineering and architectural
services....................... 822.0 858.6 862.2 857.1 818 838 848 845 848 853
Management and public relations... 852.2 913.3 920.9 922.8 847 897 901 904 913 920
Services, nec....................... 44.7 46.5 47.5 47.8 (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Government............................ 19,104 18,391 18,278 19,244 19,325 19,458 19,451 19,482 19,591 19,510
Federal............................. 2,812 2,776 2,761 2,736 2,812 2,776 2,756 2,752 2,742 2,737
Federal, except Postal Service.... 1,970.3 1,925.7 1,914.0 1,891.2 1,965 1,918 1,906 1,897 1,891 1,884
State............................... 4,591 4,406 4,395 4,591 4,638 4,655 4,654 4,658 4,665 4,665
Education......................... 1,881.8 1,674.9 1,680.3 1,908.6 1,935 1,963 1,968 1,980 1,979 1,984
Other State government............ 2,709.0 2,731.1 2,714.3 2,682.6 2,703 2,692 2,686 2,678 2,686 2,681
Local............................... 11,701 11,209 11,122 11,917 11,875 12,027 12,041 12,072 12,184 12,108
Education......................... 6,457.3 5,606.5 5,590.0 6,604.0 6,628 6,690 6,724 6,767 6,852 6,785
Other local government............ 5,243.9 5,602.2 5,531.5 5,313.0 5,247 5,337 5,317 5,305 5,332 5,323
1 This series is not suitable for seasonal adjustment because it has very little seasonal and irregular movement.
Thus, the not seasonally adjusted series can be used for analysis of cyclical and long-term trends.
2 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
3 This series is not published seasonally adjusted because the seasonal component, which is small relative to the
trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-2. Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Industry
Sept. July Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996p 1996p 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996p 1996p
Total private.................... 34.6 34.6 34.8 34.9 34.4 34.2 34.7 34.2 34.5 34.7
Goods-producing......................... 41.6 40.8 41.4 41.7 40.9 40.9 41.2 40.9 41.1 41.1
Mining................................ 45.4 44.8 45.2 45.8 44.8 45.2 45.8 44.9 44.7 45.0
Construction.......................... 39.9 39.8 39.8 39.7 38.7 38.1 38.7 38.7 38.7 38.5
Manufacturing......................... 42.0 41.1 41.8 42.3 41.5 41.7 41.8 41.6 41.7 41.8
Overtime hours.................... 4.8 4.3 4.7 5.1 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.4 4.5 4.5
Durable goods........................ 42.8 41.7 42.5 43.0 42.3 42.5 42.6 42.3 42.6 42.6
Overtime hours.................... 5.1 4.4 5.0 5.3 4.7 5.1 5.0 4.7 4.8 4.8
Lumber and wood products............ 41.1 40.7 41.4 41.7 40.6 41.0 41.2 41.1 40.9 41.1
Furniture and fixtures.............. 40.1 39.2 40.1 40.4 39.4 39.7 39.5 39.7 39.6 39.5
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 44.0 43.5 44.1 44.4 43.1 43.2 43.5 43.2 43.3 43.4
Primary metal industries............ 43.8 43.6 44.0 44.8 43.6 44.3 44.1 44.0 44.4 44.5
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 44.2 44.4 44.0 44.4 43.9 44.4 44.5 44.3 44.2 44.0
Fabricated metal products........... 42.9 41.6 42.5 43.0 42.4 42.6 42.6 42.4 42.4 42.4
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 43.4 42.4 42.7 43.1 43.2 43.2 43.3 42.9 43.0 42.8
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 42.2 40.5 41.5 41.9 41.7 41.3 41.6 41.2 41.6 41.5
Transportation equipment............ 44.4 42.7 44.5 45.3 43.6 44.5 44.4 44.0 44.9 44.9
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 45.5 43.4 45.5 46.3 44.5 46.5 45.7 45.5 46.4 45.9
Instruments and related products.... 41.5 41.0 41.7 42.1 41.4 41.6 41.9 41.4 41.9 41.9
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 40.3 38.9 39.9 40.1 39.8 39.9 39.8 39.7 39.8 39.6
Nondurable goods..................... 40.9 40.3 40.9 41.2 40.4 40.6 40.7 40.5 40.5 40.7
Overtime hours.................... 4.5 4.1 4.4 4.6 3.9 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.0 4.0
Food and kindred products........... 42.1 40.9 41.5 42.3 41.1 41.1 41.1 40.7 40.6 41.0
Tobacco products.................... 40.0 38.7 40.0 40.8 38.7 39.4 39.4 39.3 39.7 39.6
Textile mill products............... 41.1 40.2 41.3 41.2 40.6 40.6 41.0 40.8 40.9 40.7
Apparel and other textile products.. 37.2 36.8 37.6 37.5 36.8 37.2 37.6 37.1 37.3 37.4
Paper and allied products........... 43.4 43.2 43.3 43.9 43.0 43.4 43.5 43.4 43.2 43.5
Printing and publishing............. 38.6 37.9 38.5 38.9 38.1 38.3 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.5
Chemicals and allied products....... 43.2 42.9 42.9 43.2 43.1 43.2 43.4 43.2 43.3 43.0
Petroleum and coal products......... 43.8 44.2 43.9 44.8 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 41.8 40.8 41.6 42.0 41.4 41.4 41.5 41.6 41.5 41.6
Leather and leather products........ 38.6 37.7 38.9 39.1 38.0 38.3 38.5 38.3 38.8 38.8
Service-producing....................... 32.7 32.9 33.1 33.0 32.7 32.5 33.0 32.5 32.7 33.0
Transportation and public utilities... 39.7 39.8 40.2 40.3 39.5 39.2 40.0 39.4 39.8 40.2
Wholesale trade....................... 38.3 38.1 38.4 38.6 38.2 38.1 38.7 38.0 38.3 38.5
Retail trade.......................... 28.9 29.4 29.5 29.1 28.8 28.8 29.0 28.6 28.8 29.0
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 35.7 35.5 35.7 36.6 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Services.............................. 32.3 32.5 32.7 32.6 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
1 Data relate to production workers in mining and manufacturing; construction workers in construction; and
nonsupervisory workers in transportation and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real
estate; and services. These groups account for approximately four-fifths of the total employees on private nonfarm
payrolls.
2 These series are not published seasonally adjusted because the seasonal component, which is small relative to the
trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by
industry
Average hourly earnings Average weekly earnings
Industry
Sept. July Aug. Sept. Sept. July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996p 1996p 1995 1996 1996p 1996p
Total private.................... $11.55 $11.74 $11.76 $11.96 $399.63 $406.20 $409.25 $417.40
Seasonally adjusted............. 11.52 11.81 11.86 11.92 396.29 403.90 409.17 413.62
Goods-producing......................... 13.22 13.54 13.55 13.67 549.95 552.43 560.97 570.04
Mining................................ 15.35 15.53 15.51 15.82 696.89 695.74 701.05 724.56
Construction.......................... 15.34 15.48 15.55 15.74 612.07 616.10 618.89 624.88
Manufacturing......................... 12.47 12.79 12.79 12.90 523.74 525.67 534.62 545.67
Durable goods........................ 13.05 13.35 13.38 13.52 558.54 556.70 568.65 581.36
Lumber and wood products............ 10.28 10.47 10.50 10.56 422.51 426.13 434.70 440.35
Furniture and fixtures.............. 9.95 10.13 10.17 10.23 399.00 397.10 407.82 413.29
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 12.54 12.93 12.91 13.05 551.76 562.46 569.33 579.42
Primary metal industries............ 14.71 15.09 15.01 15.16 644.30 657.92 660.44 679.17
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 17.56 18.01 17.89 18.32 776.15 799.64 787.16 813.41
Fabricated metal products........... 12.21 12.48 12.52 12.64 523.81 519.17 532.10 543.52
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 13.34 13.55 13.64 13.81 578.96 574.52 582.43 595.21
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 11.78 12.23 12.23 12.30 497.12 495.32 507.55 515.37
Transportation equipment............ 16.96 17.32 17.29 17.47 753.02 739.56 769.41 791.39
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 17.58 17.97 17.87 18.13 799.89 779.90 813.09 839.42
Instruments and related products.... 12.81 13.18 13.18 13.29 531.62 540.38 549.61 559.51
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 10.12 10.39 10.43 10.53 407.84 404.17 416.16 422.25
Nondurable goods..................... 11.65 12.01 11.96 12.03 476.49 484.00 489.16 495.64
Food and kindred products........... 10.97 11.27 11.18 11.19 461.84 460.94 463.97 473.34
Tobacco products.................... 17.68 21.09 20.41 19.22 707.20 816.18 816.40 784.18
Textile mill products............... 9.50 9.67 9.70 9.77 390.45 388.73 400.61 402.52
Apparel and other textile products.. 7.71 7.94 7.94 8.01 286.81 292.19 298.54 300.38
Paper and allied products........... 14.33 14.79 14.71 14.76 621.92 638.93 636.94 647.96
Printing and publishing............. 12.50 12.62 12.69 12.83 482.50 478.30 488.57 499.09
Chemicals and allied products....... 15.72 16.19 16.25 16.30 679.10 694.55 697.13 704.16
Petroleum and coal products......... 19.40 19.00 18.95 19.34 849.72 839.80 831.91 866.43
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 10.99 11.24 11.23 11.30 459.38 458.59 467.17 474.60
Leather and leather products........ 8.24 8.44 8.66 8.76 318.06 318.19 336.87 342.52
Service-producing....................... 10.96 11.14 11.16 11.37 358.39 366.51 369.40 375.21
Transportation and public utilities... $14.35 $14.51 $14.55 $14.66 $569.70 $577.50 $584.91 $590.80
Wholesale trade....................... 12.51 12.80 12.82 13.00 479.13 487.68 492.29 501.80
Retail trade.......................... 7.77 7.92 7.95 8.04 224.55 232.85 234.53 233.96
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 12.40 12.69 12.71 12.91 442.68 450.50 453.75 472.51
Services.............................. 11.45 11.62 11.63 11.90 369.84 377.65 380.30 387.94
1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-4. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm
payrolls by industry, seasonally adjusted
Percent
Sept. May June July Aug. Sept. change
Industry 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996p 1996p from:
Aug. 1996-
Sept. 1996
Total private:
Current dollars.............. $11.52 $11.73 $11.83 $11.81 $11.86 $11.92 0.5
Constant (1982) dollars2..... 7.42 7.38 7.44 7.41 7.44 N.A. (3)
Goods-producing............... 13.12 13.38 13.45 13.48 13.55 13.59 .3
Mining...................... 15.41 15.46 15.59 15.58 15.64 15.77 .8
Construction................ 15.17 15.31 15.40 15.46 15.49 15.57 .5
Manufacturing............... 12.43 12.72 12.77 12.79 12.88 12.90 .2
Excluding overtime4....... 11.79 12.06 12.12 12.15 12.22 12.22 .0
Service-producing............. 10.96 11.18 11.29 11.25 11.30 11.37 .6
Transportation and public
utilities................ 14.33 14.50 14.56 14.52 14.61 14.61 .0
Wholesale trade............. 12.51 12.71 12.91 12.81 12.88 13.00 .9
Retail trade................ 7.76 7.93 8.00 7.96 8.01 8.01 .0
Finance, insurance, and real
estate................... 12.44 12.76 12.86 12.77 12.84 12.96 .9
Services.................... 11.46 11.69 11.79 11.78 11.81 11.90 .8
1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
2 The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) is used to
deflate this series.
3 Change was .4 percent from July 1996 to August 1996, the latest month available.
4 Derived by assuming that overtime hours are paid at the rate of time and one-half.
N.A. = not available.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-5. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by
industry
(1982=100)
Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Industry
Sept. July Aug. Sept. Sept. May June July Aug. Sept.
1995 1996 1996p 1996p 1995 1996 1996 1996 1996p 1996p
Total private.................... 135.7 138.6 140.1 139.8 134.0 135.4 137.7 136.0 137.1 138.0
Goods-producing......................... 114.0 111.3 114.3 114.9 109.7 110.0 110.7 110.1 110.6 110.3
Mining................................ 55.6 55.2 56.0 56.1 53.8 55.2 55.9 54.2 54.2 54.2
Construction.......................... 155.6 162.8 164.3 162.7 141.0 144.3 147.0 147.8 148.0 147.3
Manufacturing......................... 108.9 103.9 107.3 108.4 106.6 106.2 106.5 105.7 106.3 106.1
Durable goods........................ 109.3 105.4 108.8 110.3 107.6 108.4 108.9 108.0 109.1 108.5
Lumber and wood products............ 138.1 137.2 141.3 141.3 134.4 135.9 137.2 136.7 136.7 136.3
Furniture and fixtures.............. 126.3 119.4 125.1 126.4 123.9 124.2 122.6 123.6 123.2 122.9
Stone, clay, and glass products..... 112.9 111.4 114.0 114.9 108.1 108.6 109.7 108.4 109.2 109.4
Primary metal industries............ 91.5 89.0 91.8 93.6 90.7 92.0 92.3 90.9 92.9 92.8
Blast furnaces and basic steel
products....................... 72.5 73.1 72.6 73.2 72.1 73.3 73.5 72.8 72.6 72.3
Fabricated metal products........... 115.4 111.3 115.6 117.4 113.6 114.5 115.3 115.1 115.6 115.5
Industrial machinery and equipment.. 103.4 101.0 101.4 102.3 103.2 103.7 103.9 102.9 103.2 101.6
Electronic and other electrical
equipment........................ 109.3 104.8 107.5 109.1 108.0 107.8 108.3 107.8 108.3 108.2
Transportation equipment............ 123.3 115.7 122.8 126.1 120.8 122.5 123.8 121.7 125.7 124.9
Motor vehicles and equipment...... 167.1 153.1 165.3 169.6 162.8 171.7 169.6 164.9 172.0 169.0
Instruments and related products.... 73.2 71.7 73.4 74.1 73.3 73.6 74.0 72.6 73.6 73.6
Miscellaneous manufacturing......... 105.3 97.3 102.3 103.2 102.6 102.1 102.3 101.3 101.5 100.3
Nondurable goods..................... 108.3 101.8 105.2 105.8 105.3 103.3 103.3 102.6 102.4 102.7
Food and kindred products........... 123.8 114.3 120.4 121.7 114.6 114.2 112.6 111.1 110.6 111.4
Tobacco products.................... 67.8 52.8 60.7 67.0 61.3 60.5 62.5 60.3 57.0 58.8
Textile mill products............... 95.1 88.9 92.8 92.4 93.6 90.9 91.6 91.2 91.3 90.8
Apparel and other textile products.. 83.2 73.1 76.1 76.0 81.5 76.4 76.7 76.0 74.9 75.0
Paper and allied products........... 110.8 108.0 109.4 110.5 109.6 108.5 108.4 107.7 107.8 108.8
Printing and publishing............. 125.5 121.8 123.8 124.4 124.1 123.2 122.7 123.0 123.2 123.3
Chemicals and allied products....... 102.4 99.2 99.5 99.8 102.0 100.4 100.6 99.7 99.6 99.1
Petroleum and coal products......... 78.2 78.2 77.8 78.8 76.4 72.9 76.7 75.8 75.8 77.3
Rubber and misc. plastics products.. 142.8 136.9 142.4 143.5 141.4 140.1 141.0 141.5 142.1 142.3
Leather and leather products........ 49.3 40.5 44.1 43.9 47.9 44.1 44.4 43.5 42.9 42.9
Service-producing....................... 145.4 150.8 151.8 151.0 144.9 146.8 149.8 147.7 149.0 150.5
Transportation and public utilities... 126.8 129.4 130.7 133.0 125.4 127.2 130.1 128.3 129.7 131.4
Wholesale trade....................... 123.0 125.4 126.1 126.4 122.4 124.0 126.1 123.9 125.0 125.7
Retail trade.......................... 133.5 138.9 139.5 137.0 132.5 134.0 135.4 134.1 135.0 136.0
Finance, insurance, and real estate... 123.1 127.3 127.8 129.4 123.8 124.3 128.9 125.1 126.2 129.9
Services.............................. 172.2 179.7 181.0 179.7 172.1 174.7 178.7 176.4 178.0 179.6
1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
p = preliminary.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-6. Diffusion indexes of employment change, seasonally adjusted
(Percent)
Time span Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Private nonfarm payrolls, 356 industries1
Over 1-month span:
1992.............. 43.7 43.7 50.0 57.3 55.5 50.1 52.2 49.0 52.1 56.3 53.2 57.4
1993.............. 60.0 60.8 51.3 58.6 61.7 55.2 57.7 57.0 61.8 59.7 61.8 59.6
1994.............. 58.8 62.1 66.0 64.2 60.3 63.5 61.5 62.1 60.8 61.5 63.1 63.9
1995.............. 63.2 59.3 54.9 54.6 51.4 55.1 54.1 57.4 51.8 54.8 56.3 59.4
1996.............. 52.4 63.2 60.0 52.4 62.2 57.4 55.9 p55.2 p50.1
Over 3-month span:
1992.............. 39.7 41.9 49.7 57.0 58.4 55.8 50.6 50.1 52.8 54.4 57.6 61.2
1993.............. 63.8 61.2 61.1 59.8 63.1 62.9 59.7 63.1 64.5 67.1 64.6 63.5
1994.............. 67.1 69.5 70.4 68.7 66.4 66.0 68.5 69.5 65.3 65.6 68.0 67.8
1995.............. 66.6 63.2 56.9 53.4 54.2 52.9 56.6 53.8 54.2 54.6 58.3 57.0
1996.............. 60.7 61.8 61.2 60.0 61.0 63.5 p59.0 p53.7
Over 6-month span:
1992.............. 43.3 46.8 47.5 52.5 54.9 56.7 53.8 52.2 55.5 57.6 63.9 61.9
1993.............. 63.3 65.2 63.8 64.2 62.4 65.9 65.7 63.9 66.3 67.3 70.6 69.5
1994.............. 70.8 71.6 69.0 69.8 69.5 69.5 69.2 69.0 69.2 68.5 69.1 66.6
1995.............. 66.3 60.8 58.7 54.4 53.5 54.1 53.1 56.3 55.9 54.1 56.2 61.8
1996.............. 60.3 62.9 63.8 63.8 p62.5 p57.7
Over 12-month span:
1992.............. 47.2 42.3 42.7 44.1 48.0 52.5 55.8 60.7 59.7 61.4 62.9 62.9
1993.............. 64.9 63.9 64.0 65.4 67.0 67.6 67.6 67.0 70.2 69.5 69.2 70.1
1994.............. 70.2 71.6 71.8 71.8 72.1 71.8 71.5 72.1 70.1 69.4 65.7 65.0
1995.............. 62.6 60.8 60.1 61.2 58.1 57.7 54.5 58.7 58.6 57.3 59.4 59.8
1996.............. 61.0 p62.2 p61.4
Manufacturing payrolls, 139 industries1
Over 1-month span:
1992.............. 37.4 39.9 43.9 56.8 50.0 48.9 52.2 44.6 47.5 47.8 51.4 54.7
1993.............. 52.5 56.5 50.7 45.7 54.0 45.7 49.3 49.3 59.4 53.2 53.6 55.0
1994.............. 56.5 60.1 59.7 58.6 53.2 57.9 57.6 53.6 55.8 54.7 57.2 59.4
1995.............. 56.8 55.0 46.0 45.3 39.2 40.3 45.0 45.0 42.4 45.3 46.4 47.5
1996.............. 42.1 48.2 48.2 39.6 53.2 49.6 43.9 p47.5 p42.1
Over 3-month span:
1992.............. 29.9 33.5 43.9 49.6 55.4 53.2 46.8 47.8 45.7 47.5 51.1 54.7
1993.............. 60.8 58.3 53.2 47.8 48.9 54.0 50.4 58.3 57.6 59.7 54.7 57.6
1994.............. 63.7 64.4 66.2 60.8 56.1 56.8 60.8 58.6 54.0 56.1 60.1 60.8
1995.............. 60.4 51.8 43.5 34.9 33.1 32.0 33.1 35.6 38.8 39.6 40.6 38.8
1996.............. 38.8 39.9 37.8 43.2 45.3 47.5 p42.8 p36.7
Over 6-month span:
1992.............. 32.4 34.9 39.9 46.8 52.2 54.3 48.2 47.8 51.1 51.1 56.8 56.5
1993.............. 56.5 59.0 56.8 55.4 50.7 57.9 59.4 56.5 57.6 58.6 64.4 60.8
1994.............. 62.2 64.4 60.4 61.5 59.0 56.8 56.5 57.2 60.1 55.8 59.7 55.8
1995.............. 55.4 45.0 38.5 33.5 27.7 28.8 28.8 30.6 33.5 33.1 34.2 38.8
1996.............. 32.0 37.4 37.1 38.1 p42.1 p36.0
Over 12-month span:
1992.............. 42.4 36.7 36.3 36.0 39.6 45.7 50.0 55.8 57.9 56.8 58.3 56.5
1993.............. 56.8 57.9 55.8 58.6 57.2 57.6 58.6 59.0 61.2 59.7 60.1 57.6
1994.............. 57.9 58.6 60.8 60.8 60.8 63.3 59.4 60.1 57.2 55.8 49.6 47.5
1995.............. 42.1 40.3 39.9 40.6 34.5 31.7 25.9 28.8 28.1 24.1 27.0 29.1
1996.............. 33.1 p34.5 p33.8
1 Based on seasonally adjusted data for 1-, 3-, and 6-month spans and unadjusted data for the 12-month span. Data are
centered within the span.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: Figures are the percent of industries with employment increasing plus one-half of the industries with
unchanged employment, where 50 percent indicates an equal balance between industries with increasing and decreasing
employment.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Contact: (cpsinfo@bls.gov) Division of Labor Force Statistics-BLS
Last revised: September 23, 1998
URL: http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/pub/empsit_0996.htm
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