degrees in economics from purdue university. it's good to be with you again, dr. hall. we will hear from you now. >> thank you. let them start by saying on behalf of all of us at the bureau of labor and statistics, i join with the members of the committee in offering our condolences to congresswoman maloney and her family. they have our deepest sympathy and our thoughts and prayers are with them. mr. chairman, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and nonemployment data we released this morning. job losses continued in september and the unemployment rate continued to trend up reaching 9.8%. payroll employment fell by 263,000 over the month and losses have now averaged 307,000 per month since may. payroll employment has fallen for 21 consecutive months with declines totals 7.2 million. in september, notable job losses occurred in construction, manufacturing, government and retail trade. construction employment decreased by 64,000 in september. job losses averaged 66,000 per month from may through september compared with an

degrees in economics from purdue university. it's good to be with you again, dr. hall.ar from you now. >> thank you. let them start by saying on behalf of all of us at the bureau of labor and statistics, i join with the members of the committee in offering our condolences to congresswoman maloney and her family. they have our deepest sympathy and our thoughts and prayers are with them. mr. chairman, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and nonemployment data we released this morning. job losses continued in september and the unemployment rate continued to trend up reaching 9.8%. payroll employment fell by 263,000 over the month and losses have now averaged 307,000 per month since may. payroll employment has fallen for 21 consecutive months with declines totals 7.2 million. in september, notable job losses occurred in construction, manufacturing, government and retail trade. construction employment decreased by 64,000 in september. job losses averaged 66,000 per month from may through september compared with an average of