FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.

FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2005

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, May 6, 2005

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor 

market data we released this morning.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 274,000 in April, 

and the unemployment rate held at 5.2 percent. The 

increase in payroll jobs followed revised gains of 300,000 

in February and 146,000 in March. Over the month, 

employment growth was widespread. Notable gains continued 

in construction, mining, food services, and health care. 

Among the goods-producing industries, construction 

employment rose by 47,000, continuing the strong growth 

trend of the last 2 years. Most of April’s increase 
2

occurred in specialty trade contracting (40,000), with 

gains in both its residential and nonresidential 

components. Mining added 8,000 jobs in April. Over the 

past 6 months, mining employment has risen by 31,000, 

largely reflecting increased hiring for support activities 

for oil and gas operations.

Manufacturing employment was essentially unchanged 

both in April and over the year. The manufacturing 

workweek was up by one-tenth of an hour over the month, and 

factory overtime held at 4.5 hours.

In the service-providing sector, food services added 

35,000 jobs over the month. Following a lull in hiring 

last summer, industry employment has risen by 183,000 since 

September. Health care employment increased by 25,000 in

April. The job gain was concentrated in hospitals and in 

doctors’ offices.

Employment in the information industry increased by 

12,000 over the month, with gains in motion pictures and 

telecommunications. Job growth continued in a number of 

other service-providing industries, including financial 

activities, professional and technical services, and 

transportation.

Average hourly earnings of private production or 

nonsupervisory workers rose by 5 cents in April to $16.00, 
3

following a 4-cent increase in March. Over the year, 

average hourly earnings grew by 2.7 percent.

Looking at the measures from our household survey, 

total employment rose in April by 598,000 to 141.1 million. 

The labor force participation rate and the employmentpopulation ratio each edged up by 0.2 percentage point to 

66.0 and 62.6 percent, respectively. The number of 

discouraged workers (persons outside the labor force who 

had stopped looking for work because they believed their 

job search efforts would be fruitless) declined by 99,000 

over the year to 393,000 in April (not seasonally 

adjusted).

Both the number of unemployed persons and the 

unemployment rate were unchanged in April. About 1 in 5 

unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or longer. 

The long-term unemployed have accounted for over 20 percent 

of total unemployment for 31 consecutive months. 

As part of our mission of reporting on America’s 

workers each month, and in recognition of Mother’s Day this 

Sunday, I would like to mention a few facts about working 

mothers. In today’s labor market, 7 out of 10 mothers are

in the labor force, compared with 5 out of 10 in 1975. 

Working moms account for almost one-fifth of all employed 

individuals, and nearly three-fourths of employed mothers 
4

usually work full time. Mothers who usually work full time 

also spend more than 2 hours each weekday performing active 

childcare, cleaning house, and preparing meals. In 

addition, nearly 4 out of 10 mothers who work full time 

perform volunteer work at some point during the year. 

I also would note that an updated version of a report

by BLS on women in the labor force, which includes data on 

working mothers, will be posted on our Web site next week. 

This report is a compilation of information on women 

workers by various characteristics, including age, 

education, occupation, and earnings. 

To summarize April’s labor market data, nonfarm 

payroll employment increased by 274,000. The unemployment 

rate was unchanged over the month, at 5.2 percent. 

My colleagues and I now would be glad to address your 

questions.