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

Kathleen P. Utgoff

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, January 6, 2006

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 108,000 in 

December, and the unemployment rate, at 4.9 percent, was 

little changed. In November, payroll employment rose by 

305,000, and October employment was about unchanged 

(+25,000), as revised. Over the year, payroll employment 

increased by 2.0 million. Over the month, employment 

increased in manufacturing, food services, professional and 

business services, and health care. Construction 

employment was little changed in December. 

Manufacturing added 18,000 jobs over the month. There 

were noteworthy gains in wood products and in computer and 

electronic products. The factory workweek declined by 0.1 

hour to 40.7 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 4.5 

hours. 
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Construction employment was little changed over the 

month, following a gain of 42,000 in November. In 2005, 

construction employment rose by 246,000. In December, 

employment in residential building construction continued 

to increase. Employment in heavy construction declined in 

December, following a large gain in November. 

Within the service-providing sector, health care added 

21,000 jobs in December and 271,000 jobs in 2005. Over the 

month, employment continued to trend up in hospitals and in 

doctors’ offices. 

Employment was up by 33,000 in professional and 

business services in December, following a much larger 

increase in November (+76,000, as revised). Over the year, 

this industry added 486,000 jobs. In December, employment 

continued to trend up in architectural and engineering 

services, management and consulting services, and 

accounting services. Employment in temporary help services 

was little changed over the month; over the year, the 

industry added 156,000 jobs. 

In December, employment increased by 36,000 in food 

services and drinking places; over the year, the industry 

added 220,000 jobs. Employment growth continued in 

financial activities over the month; in 2005, the industry 
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added 188,000 jobs. Strength in the housing market 

contributed to job growth in credit intermediation (up by 

84,000 over the year), and in real estate (up by 56,000 

over the year). 

Retail trade employment was little changed in 

December. After seasonal adjustment, employment declined 

in general merchandise stores, as seasonal hiring was less 

than usual. Building material and garden supply stores 

employment increased over the month. 

Average hourly earnings of production or 

nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 

5 cents in December to $16.34, following a 1-cent gain in 

November (as revised). Over the year, average hourly 

earnings were up by 3.1 percent.

 Turning now to our survey of households, I would 

remind data users that, with the release of December’s 

data, we revise seasonally adjusted estimates. Data going 

back 5 years--to January 2001--are subject to revision. 

All of the seasonally adjusted household data released 

today reflect the revisions.

The unemployment rate was little changed in December 

at 4.9 percent; a year earlier the jobless rate was 5.4 

percent. The number of unemployed persons, at 7.4 million 

in December, was down from 8.0 million a year earlier. The 
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employment-population ratio was unchanged over the month at 

62.8 percent. After trending up earlier in the year, the 

ratio has been 62.8 percent for 5 of the past 6 months. 

The labor force participation rate, at 66.0 percent in 

December, was unchanged from a year earlier. 

With today’s release, we have the third month of data 

derived from a special series of questions that were 

included in the household survey to identify and solicit 

information from survey respondents who had evacuated from 

their homes due to Hurricane Katrina. It is important to 

note that the estimates do not account for all evacuees. 

We do not gather information on those evacuees who remain 

outside the scope of the survey, such as those currently 

living in hotels or shelters.

 The December data indicate that there were about 1.1 

million persons age 16 and over who evacuated from their 

August residence due to Hurricane Katrina. By December, 

about 600,000 persons, or a little more than half, had 

returned to the home from which they had evacuated; the 

remainder had not returned.

 Of the estimated 1.1 million evacuees identified in 

December, 58.2 percent were in the labor force, and their 

unemployment rate was 12.4 percent. Those evacuees who 

returned home had a lower unemployment rate in December 
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(5.6 percent) than those evacuees who had not returned to 

the residence they occupied in August (20.7 percent). The 

proportion of evacuees participating in the labor force in 

December was similar for both groups--58.4 percent for 

those who had returned to their homes, and 58.0 percent for 

those who had not returned. 

 To summarize December’s labor market data, payroll 

employment increased by 108,000, and the unemployment rate 

was little changed at 4.9 percent. Over the year, payroll 

employment rose by 2 million, and the Nation’s jobless rate 

was down by half a percentage point.