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, March 4, 2005

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 262,000 in 

February, with job gains occurring across a range of 

industries. The unemployment rate returned to 5.4 percent 

in February after dipping to 5.2 percent in January.

Employment in professional and business services 

increased by 81,000 in February. Within this sector, 

temporary help services added 30,000 jobs over the month, 

following 3 months in which employment was little changed. 

Since its most recent low in April 2003, employment in this 

industry has grown by 374,000. Elsewhere among 

professional and business services industries in February, 

employment was up in architectural and engineering services 

and in services to buildings and dwellings.

Several other industries in the service-providing 

sector contributed to the overall employment gain in 
2

February. The health care industry continued to expand, 

adding 23,000 jobs. Food services employment also remained 

on its growth trend, increasing by 27,000. Retail 

employment was up by 30,000 over the month. In the 

financial activities sector, employment in credit 

intermediation and in real estate continued to trend up.

In February, construction employment rose by 30,000, 

following no gain in the prior month. Job growth in 

construction was likely subdued in January due to unusually 

severe weather conditions in some parts of the country. 

Over the last year, construction employment growth averaged 

23,000 per month.

Manufacturing employment was up by 20,000 in February; 

much of this increase reflected automotive workers 

returning from temporary layoffs. A few other 

manufacturing industries had small job gains in February. 

Overall, manufacturing employment was up slightly over the 

year; however, it has shown little net change since mid2004. In February, factory hours were down by two-tenths 

of an hour, while overtime edged up by one-tenth of an 

hour.

Average hourly earnings of private production or 

nonsupervisory workers were flat in February, following a 
3

5-cent increase in January. Over the year, average hourly 

earnings increased by 2.5 percent.

Most labor market measures from the survey of 

households were little changed in February. The 

unemployment rate edged up to 5.4 percent over the month, 

returning to its December level. The jobless rate was 

either 5.4 or 5.5 percent in each of last 6 months of 2004. 

The labor force participation rate held at 65.8 percent in 

February and was about the same as a year earlier. 

Among those who were not in the labor force, the 

number who were marginally attached to the job market, at 

1.7 million in February, was little changed over the year. 

About half a million of this group cited discouragement 

about their job prospects as their reason for discontinuing 

their job search. This also was about the same level as a 

year earlier.

In summary, payroll employment rose by 262,000 in 

February and by 2.4 million over the past year. The 

unemployment rate was 5.4 percent, essentially the same as 

in the last half of 2004.