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, May 7, 2010

Madam Chair and Members of the Committee: 

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and 

unemployment data we released this morning. 

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 290,000 in April. The 

unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent, and the labor force 

increased sharply. Job growth was fairly widespread, with gains 

in manufacturing, professional and business services, health 

care, and leisure and hospitality. Federal government 

employment increased, with the addition of 66,000 short-term 

workers for Census 2010. Nonfarm employment has risen by 

573,000 since December, with 483,000 jobs added in the private 

sector. 
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Manufacturing continued to add jobs in April (44,000). 

Employment in this industry has increased by 101,000 since 

December. Three industries--fabricated metal products, 

machinery, and primary metals--have accounted for more than half 

of factory job gains so far this year. 

Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, mining employment 

continued to trend up over the month (7,000); the industry has 

added 39,000 jobs since October. In construction, 

nonresidential building and heavy construction each added 9,000 

jobs in April. 

Employment in professional and business services rose by 

80,000 over the month. Within the industry, job growth 

continued in temporary help services (26,000), where employment 

has increased by 330,000 since September. Employment also rose 

in services to buildings and dwellings (23,000) and in computer 

systems design (7,000) in April. 

Health care added 20,000 jobs over the month, in line with 

average monthly growth over the prior 12 months. Employment 

also continued to grow in leisure and hospitality (45,000). The 

industry has added 121,000 jobs since December, led by gains in 

food services. 

Federal government employment rose in April, reflecting the 

hiring of 66,000 temporary workers for Census 2010. Employment 

in state and local governments was essentially unchanged. 
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Within transportation, employment fell in courier and 

messenger services (-21,000). Other major industries showed 

little change in employment. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls were up 1 cent in April to $22.47. Over the past 12 

months, average hourly earnings have increased by 1.6 percent. 

From March 2009 to March 2010, the Consumer Price Index for All 

Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose by 2.4 percent. 

Turning now to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent in April, and the 

number of unemployed persons was 15.3 million. Over the month, 

the number of unemployed who were reentrants to the labor force 

rose to 3.7 million. 

In April, 6.7 million people had been jobless for 27 weeks 

or more. These long-term unemployed made up 45.9 percent of all 

unemployed persons, a record high. 

The labor force increased by 805,000 in April. The labor 

force participation rate--the percent of the population working 

or looking for work--rose by 0.3 percentage point to 65.2 

percent and has increased by 0.6 percentage point since 

December. The employment-population ratio increased to 58.8 

percent in April and also has risen by 0.6 percentage point 

since December. Among the employed, there were 9.2 million 
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individuals working part time in April who preferred full-time 

work, about the same as in March. 

In summary, employment rose by 290,000 in April, with gains 

in several major industries. The unemployment rate edged up to 

9.9 percent. 

My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your 

questions.