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

Friday, September 3, 2004

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 144,000 in 

August, with job gains in several service-providing 

industries. The unemployment rate, at 5.4 percent, was 

little changed over the month. Since its recent low point 

in August 2003, nonfarm payroll employment has grown by 

about 1.7 million. A little more than half of that growth 

occurred from March through May of this year. During that 

period, job gains averaged nearly 300,000 per month; growth 

slowed in June and July (+96,000 and +73,000, as revised). 

Hurricane Charley struck Florida during the August

survey reference period. BLS made additional data 

collection efforts for the hurricane-affected counties to 

ensure that payroll survey response rates were at normal 

levels. Our examination of the survey data suggests that 

there were no discernable weather-related effects on 
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national employment as measured by the establishment 

survey. This was likely due to the fact that the storm hit 

late in the reporting period for most of our survey 

respondents. For the storm to have affected payroll 

employment, people would have had to have been off work for 

an entire pay period and not paid for the time missed. (In 

the household survey, people who miss work for weatherrelated events are counted as employed whether or not they 

are paid for the time off.) 

In August, health care and social assistance 

employment rose by 42,000. Over the year, this sector has 

added 307,000 jobs, representing nearly one-fifth of 

overall nonfarm job growth during this period. In the 

health care component, the August increase included gains 

in both hospitals and ambulatory health care services (such 

as doctors’ offices and outpatient care centers). The

over-the-month employment increase in social assistance 

followed no net job gain over the prior 3 months. 

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment 

in computer systems design services and in rental and 

leasing increased over the month. Securities and 

commodities brokerages also added jobs in August. 

Employment in the credit intermediation industry, which 

includes mortgage brokers, was little changed following a 
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small decline in July. Temporary help payrolls remained 

relatively flat for the third straight month. From April 

2003 to May 2004, this industry added 293,000 jobs.

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing 

employment was up by 22,000 in August, but this increase 

mostly reflected auto workers returning to work from the 

larger-than-usual annual retooling shutdowns in July. 

Employment in other manufacturing industries showed little 

change in August; factory hours and overtime were flat. 

Construction employment edged up in August, following 

little change in June and July. Employment in mining was

about unchanged over the month.

Average hourly earnings of private production or 

nonsupervisory workers rose by 5 cents over the month, 

following a 6-cent increase in July, as revised. Over the 

year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.3 percent.

Most measures from our household survey showed little 

change in August. The unemployment rate, at 5.4 percent, 

and the number of unemployed persons, at 8.0 million, were

little changed over the month. The unemployment rate is 

down from its recent high of 6.3 percent in June 2003; most 

of this decline occurred in the second half of last year. 

Labor force participation edged down over the month 

following an increase in July. The labor force 
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participation rate has been at or near 66.0 percent since 

late last year. 

To summarize the August labor market developments, 

nonfarm payroll employment increased by 144,000, and the 

unemployment rate was little changed at 5.4 percent.