TEXT FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1995 ___________________________________________________________ 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 time. ____________________________________________ Statement of Katharine G. Abraham Commissioner Bureau of Labor Statistics on September 1, 1995 Good morning. I would like to take this opportunity to offer a few remarks concerning the employment and unemployment data released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment was up by 249,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.6 percent. After a strong first quarter, growth in nonfarm employment has averaged only 100,000 per month over the past 5 months. Services accounted for much of August's increase, with a gain of 144,000 jobs. This follows a very small pickup in the prior month. More than half of the August growth in services came in business services, with strong job increases in its help supply and computer services components. Help supply services had been very weak since February, following 3 years of sustained growth. Employment in health services continued its long-term upward trend in -2- August. Engineering and management services also posted gains; this industry has expanded markedly from early 1994 onwards. Elsewhere in the service-producing sector, finance, insurance, and real estate had its strongest advance in more than a year. Low interest rates spurred job gains in mortgage banking; security brokerage employment also rose. Transportation employment was up over the month. Retail trade employment was little changed in August, after 2 months of strong growth. Employment in eating and drinking places was down over the month; job gains in food stores and in auto dealers and service stations partially offset that loss. Employment in government rose by 73,000, mostly at the local level. This gain reflects, in part, a growing tendency for schools to open in August rather than September. Factory employment was about unchanged in August, following 4 months of declines. In durable goods manufacturing, employment in electronic equipment and industrial machinery continued to trend upward. These small gains were largely offset by declines in nondurables, particularly in apparel and in printing and publishing. The manufacturing workweek rose two-tenths of an hour and factory overtime also edged up, though each remains substantially below its January peak. -3- Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers fell by 2 cents in August, after rising by 6 cents in each of the preceding 2 months. The average increase in hourly earnings of 2-1/2 cents a month so far this year is about the same as the monthly average for 1994. Turning to data from the household survey, the overall unemployment rate was about unchanged in August at 5.6 percent and, indeed, has shown very little movement since April. The seasonally adjusted estimates of the labor force and total employment also were little different from their July levels. The number of persons with a marginal attachment to the labor force was about 1.5 million in August. Of these, 410,000 were not in the labor force because of discouragement over job prospects. These figures have been lower this year than last. In summary, payroll employment was up in August, with marked growth in services and manufacturing faring better than in recent months. The unemployment rate, at 5.6 percent, has shown little change over the past 4 months. My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your questions.