FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.S.T. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2000 Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Statement of Katharine G. Abraham Commissioner Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday, February 4, 2000 Good morning. I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss the January employment and unemployment estimates that we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment expanded by 387,000 in January. This relatively large increase reflected unusually mild weather during the survey reference period (the pay period including January 12). The unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in January, essentially unchanged from the rate in the prior 3 months (4.1 percent). Construction employment was up by 116,000 in January (after seasonal adjustment), due in large part to the unseasonably warm weather during the reference period. The gains within construction were widespread, but the largest were in those industries most influenced by the weather- —heavy construction and the concrete, masonry, and roofing trades. Manufacturing employment edged up by 13,000 in January. The largest gains were in autos and electrical equipment. In autos, seasonal layoffs were smaller than usual. Employment also rose in several construction-related manufacturing industries, such as plywood, concrete, and fabricated structural metals. Other industries continued their declining trends, however, including industrial machinery, aircraft, textiles and apparel. Employment in oil and gas extraction rose in January; the industry has added 9,000 jobs since August 1999. Services had an above-average job gain of 152,000 in January. Strong advances occurred in agricultural services (which no doubt was helped by mild weather), computer services, amusements and recreation, health services, and social services. Below-average job gains occurred in engineering and management services, and there were losses in hotels and private education. Retail trade employment rose by 43,000 in January. Building materials stores and automotive dealers and service stations continued to add jobs; apparel stores and miscellaneous retail establishments increased employment following declines in November and December. Department stores, on the other hand, lost 33,000 jobs in January, reversing a gain in December. Wholesale trade had an above- average job increase (19,000), mostly due to strength in its nondurable goods component. Finance, insurance, and real estate experienced an employment decline (-9,000) in January, its first since mid-1995. Job losses in mortgage banking and in insurance were partially offset by a large gain in real estate; the increase in real estate seems likely to have been weather- related. Transportation and public utilities added 16,000 jobs in January. Above-average job gains occurred in local and interurban transit and in air transportation, but they were partly offset by declines in water transportation and transportation services. Government employment grew by 35,000 in January. At the federal level, 11,000 temporary census workers were added to the payroll. Average weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers rose by 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours in January. The factory workweek also rose by 0.1 hour to 41.7 hours, while factory overtime fell by 0.1 hour to 4.6 hours. Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers rose by 6 cents in January to $13.50. Following gains of 13 cents in each of the first 2 quarters of 1999, average hourly earnings growth was 11 cents in the third quarter and 9 cents in the fourth quarter (as revised). Over the 12 months ending in January 2000, hourly earnings increased by 3.5 percent. Turning now to the data from our survey of households, the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in January at 4.0 percent. It has remained under 4.2 percent since October 1999. The rates for all of the major demographic groups (adult men, adult women, teenagers, whites, blacks, and Hispanics) were relatively stable in January. Total civilian employment jumped by 918,000 over the month, after adjustment for revisions in population controls introduced in January. The employment-population ratio rose to a record 64.8 percent. The number of persons who held more than one job totaled 7.6 million (not seasonally adjusted). These multiple jobholders made up 5.7 percent of the total employed, down slightly from 6.0 percent a year earlier. This month we are introducing a seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of people who are not in the labor force but who indicate that they want a job. In January, there were about 4.3 million people in this category, down from 4.5 million the previous month. In summary, employment rose sharply over the month, in part reflecting a particularly warm survey reference period that resulted in fewer layoffs in construction and other weather-sensitive industries. The unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0 percent. My colleagues and I now would be glad to respond to your questions.