FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.
                         FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2004

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 Daylight Time.


                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                         before the
                              
                  Joint Economic Committee
                              
                   UNITED STATES CONGRESS
                              
                    Friday, June 4, 2004
                              
                              
                              


Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

     I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor
market data that we released this morning.
     
     Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 248,000 in May,
following even larger job gains in both April and March
(346,000 and 353,000, respectively).  Since August 2003,
payroll employment has risen by 1.4 million.  In May, job
growth was widespread for the third consecutive month.
Employment continued to expand in manufacturing, construc-
tion, and several service-providing industries.  The
unemployment rate held at 5.6 percent in May; it has shown
essentially no movement since last December.
     
     Among the goods-producing industries, employment in
manufacturing rose by 32,000 in May and has increased by
91,000 since January.  The over-the-month gain was con-
centrated in the durable goods component (26,000), which
has accounted for nearly all of the recent job growth in
manufacturing.  The factory workweek rose by four-tenths of
an hour over the month, more than offsetting declines in the
prior 2 months.
     
     The upward trend in construction employment continued
in May, as the industry added 37,000 jobs.  Since March
2003, the number of construction jobs has risen by 248,000.
Employment growth in mining has picked up in recent months;
the industry has added 18,000 jobs since January.
     
     In the service-providing sector, employment in
professional and business services increased by 64,000 in
May, following an even larger gain in April.  Nearly half of
May’s growth in professional and business services occurred
in temporary help (31,000).  Employment in temporary help
has risen by nearly 300,000 since its recent low in April
2003.
     
     Employment continued to increase in health care and
social assistance (36,000).  Job growth in this industry has
accelerated in recent months.
     
     Employment growth in leisure and hospitality was strong
for the third straight month.  The industry added 40,000
jobs in May, with food services and drinking places con-
tinuing to account for most of the gain (33,000).  So far
this year, employment increases in food services have
averaged 32,000 per month.
     
     Elsewhere among the service-providing industries, the
financial sector added 15,000 jobs in May, as employment in
real estate and in credit intermediation continued to expand.
In retail trade and wholesale trade, employment sustained its
upward trend.
     
     One industry in which employment has continued to trend
down is telecommunications.  Over the month, employment
declined by 5,000; since its peak in March 2001, the
industry has shed 283,000 jobs.
     
     In May, average hourly earnings for production or
nonsupervisory workers rose by 5 cents, following a 4-cent
increase in April.  Over the year, average hourly earnings
grew by 2.2 percent.
     
     Looking at some of our measures obtained from the
survey of households, the May unemployment rate was
unchanged at 5.6 percent.  After trending down during the
second half of last year, the jobless rate has been either
5.6 or 5.7 percent in each month since December.
     
     In May, 8.2 million persons were unemployed.  The
number of persons who had been jobless for 27 weeks or
longer held at 1.8 million.  The labor force participation
rate was 65.9 percent for the fourth consecutive month.
     
     In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by
248,000 in May, by 947,000 over the last 3 months, and by
1.4 million since August.  The unemployment rate was
unchanged over the month, at 5.6 percent.
     
     
     
     My colleagues and I now would be glad to address your
questions.