FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- OCTOBER 2013
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 204,000 in October, and the
unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in leisure and
hospitality, retail trade, professional and technical services,
manufacturing, and health care.
Household Survey Data
Both the number of unemployed persons, at 11.3 million, and the
unemployment rate, at 7.3 percent, changed little in October. Among
the unemployed, however, the number who reported being on temporary
layoff increased by 448,000. This figure includes furloughed federal
employees who were classified as unemployed on temporary layoff under
the definitions used in the household survey. (Estimates of the
unemployed by reason, such as temporary layoff and job leavers, do not
sum to the official seasonally adjusted measure of total unemployed
because they are independently seasonally adjusted.) For more
information on the classification of workers affected by the federal
government shutdown, see the box note. (See tables A-1 and A-11.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men
(7.0 percent), adult women (6.4 percent), teenagers (22.2 percent),
whites (6.3 percent), blacks (13.1 percent), and Hispanics (9.1 percent)
showed little or no change in October. The jobless rate for Asians was
5.2 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year
earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or
more) was little changed at 4.1 million in October. These individuals
accounted for 36.1 percent of the unemployed. The number of long-term
unemployed has declined by 954,000 over the year. (See table A-12.)
The civilian labor force was down by 720,000 in October. The labor
force participation rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 62.8 percent
over the month. Total employment as measured by the household survey
fell by 735,000 over the month and the employment-population ratio
declined by 0.3 percentage point to 58.3 percent. This employment
decline partly reflected a decline in federal government employment.
(See table A-1.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons
(sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little
changed at 8.1 million in October. These individuals were working part
time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable
to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)
In October, 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor
force, little changed from 2.4 million a year earlier. (The data are
not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor
force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job
sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed
because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the
survey. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 815,000 discouraged workers
in October, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are
not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not
currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available
for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the
labor force in October had not searched for work for reasons such as
school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 204,000 in October. Job
growth averaged 190,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In
October, job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, retail trade,
professional and technical services, manufacturing, and health care.
Federal government employment continued to trend down. There were no
discernible impacts of the partial federal government shutdown on the
estimates of employment, hours, and earnings from the establishment
survey. (See table B-1.)
Leisure and hospitality employment rose by 53,000 in October. Within
the industry, employment in food services and drinking places
increased by 29,000, the same as its average monthly gain over the
prior 12 months.
Employment in retail trade increased by 44,000 in October, compared
with an average monthly gain of 31,000 over the prior 12 months. Job
growth was widespread within the industry in October, with gains in
food and beverage stores (+12,000), electronics and appliance stores
(+10,000), sporting goods and hobby stores (+8,000), general
merchandise stores (+8,000), and building material and garden supply
stores (+7,000). Clothing and clothing accessories stores lost 13,000
jobs.
Professional and technical services employment rose in October
(+21,000) and has grown by 213,000 over the past 12 months. Within the
industry, employment in management and technical consulting services
rose by 8,000 in October.
Manufacturing added 19,000 jobs in October, with job growth occurring
in motor vehicles and parts (+6,000), wood products (+3,000), and
furniture and related products (+3,000). On net, manufacturing
employment has changed little since February 2013.
Health care employment increased over the month (+15,000). Job growth
in health care has averaged 17,000 per month thus far this year,
compared with an average monthly gain of 27,000 in 2012.
In October, employment showed little or no change elsewhere in the
private sector, including mining and logging, construction, wholesale
trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial
activities.
Federal government employment declined by 12,000 in October. Over the
past 12 months, federal government employment has decreased by 94,000.
Federal employees on furlough during the partial government shutdown
were still considered employed in the payroll survey because they
worked or received pay for the pay period that included the 12th of
the month. For more information on the classification of workers
affected by the partial federal government shutdown, see the box note.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was
unchanged in October at 34.4 hours. The manufacturing workweek was
40.9 hours, the same as in September, and factory overtime was
unchanged at 3.4 hours. The average workweek for production and
nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1
hour to 33.6 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)
In October, average hourly earnings for all employees on private
nonfarm payrolls edged up by 2 cents to $24.10. Over the year, average
hourly earnings have risen by 52 cents, or 2.2 percent. In October,
average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees
edged up by 2 cents to $20.26. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised
from +193,000 to +238,000, and the change for September was revised
from +148,000 to +163,000. With these revisions, employment gains in
August and September combined were 60,000 higher than previously
reported.
____________
The Employment Situation for November is scheduled to be released on
Friday, December 6, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).
Partial Federal Government Shutdown
Some agencies of the federal government were shut down or were operating at reduced staffing levels from October 1, 2013, through October 16, 2013. All household and establishment survey operations, including data collection, were suspended during that time period. Shortly after the shutdown ended, October data collection for both surveys began. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) delayed the publication of this release by 1 week to allow enough time to collect data. The reference periods for the surveys were not changed. The response rate for the household survey was within its normal range, and the response rate for the establishment survey was above average. In the household survey, individuals are classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force based on their answers to a series of questions about their activities during the survey reference week. Workers who indicate that they were not working during the entire survey reference week and expected to be recalled to their jobs should be classified in the household survey as unemployed on temporary layoff. In October 2013, there was an increase in the number of federal workers who were classified as unemployed on temporary layoff. However, there also was an increase in the number of federal workers who were classified as employed but absent from work. BLS analysis of the data indicates that this group included federal workers affected by the shutdown who also should have been classified a unemployed on temporary layoff. Such a misclassification is an example of nonsampling error and can occur when respondents misunderstand questions or interviewers record answers incorrectly. According to usual practice, the data from the household survey are accepted as recorded. To maintain data integrity, no ad hoc actions taken to reassign survey responses.
It should be noted that household survey data for federal workers are available only on a not seasonally adjusted basis. As a result, over-the-month changes in federal worker data series cannot be compared with seasonally adjusted over-the-month changes in total employed and unemployed. In the establishment survey, businesses report the number of people who work or receive pay for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. Persons who work or receive| pay for any part of the pay period are defined as employed. This method of classifying workers is the same in all industries, including the federal government. Federal employees on furlough during the partial federal government shutdown were still considered employed in the payroll survey because they worked or received pay for the pay period that included the 12th of the month.
Additional information is available online at www.bls.gov/bls/shutdown_2013_empsit_qa.pdf.
