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

Keith Hall

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

before the

Joint Economic Committee

UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Friday, June 5, 2009

Madam Chair and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and 

unemployment data that we released this morning. 

Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 345,000 in May. Job 

losses had averaged 643,000 per month during the prior 6 months.

In May, the unemployment rate rose from 8.9 to 9.4 percent.

Since the recession began in December 2007, payroll employment 

has fallen by 6.0 million, and the unemployment rate has 

increased by 4.5 percentage points. 

Job losses continued to be widespread in May, but the rate 

of decline moderated in construction and several

service-providing industries. Large job losses continued in the 
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manufacturing sector (-156,000), with employment declines in 

nearly all component industries. Employment fell sharply in 

motor vehicles and parts (-30,000), machinery (-26,000), and 

fabricated metals (-19,000). Since the start of the recession, 

manufacturing employment has decreased by 1.8 million, 

accounting for 3 out of 10 jobs lost during this downturn. 

Construction employment declined by 59,000 in May, half the 

average of the previous 6 months. Job losses moderated in the 

private service-providing industries, with employment falling by 

113,000 in May compared with an average monthly decline of 

356,000 in the prior 6 months. Employment was little changed in 

temporary help, retail trade, and leisure and hospitality, 

following large declines in recent months.

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, the health care 

industry added 24,000 jobs in May. This was about in line with 

the trend thus far in 2009.

In May, average hourly earnings for production and 

nonsupervisory workers in the private sector were up by 2 cents

to $18.54. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings 

have risen by 3.1 percent. From April 2008 to April 2009, the 

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers 

declined by 1.2 percent. 

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate increased from 8.9 to 9.4 percent over the 
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month. The number of unemployed rose by 787,000 to 14.5 

million. Since the recession began, the jobless rate has 

increased by 4.5 percentage points, and the number of unemployed 

persons has grown by 7.0 million. 

Among the unemployed, the number who have been out of work 

27 weeks or more increased by 268,000 in May to 3.9 million. 

These long-term unemployed represented 2.5 percent of the labor 

force, the highest proportion since 1983.

Over the month, the employment-population ratio edged down 

to 59.7 percent, the lowest level since October 1984. Since the 

recession began, the employment-population ratio has fallen by 

3.0 percentage points.

Among the employed, the number of persons working part time 

who would prefer full-time work was little changed for the 

second consecutive month. At 9.1 million in May, involuntary 

part-time employment was 4.4 million higher than at the start of 

the recession.

Among those outside the labor force--that is, persons 

neither working nor looking for work--the number of discouraged 

workers was 792,000 in May, up from 400,000 a year earlier. 

These individuals are not currently looking for work because 

they believe no jobs are available for them.

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment fell by 345,000 in 

May, compared with the average monthly decline of 643,000 for 
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the previous 6 months. While job losses continued to be 

widespread, declines moderated in construction and in a number 

of service-providing industries. The unemployment rate rose by 

half a percentage point to 9.4 percent.

My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your 

questions.