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 

Erica L. Groshen 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 in 

February, and the unemployment rate edged down from 7.9 to 7.7 

percent. In the prior 3 months, employment had risen by an 

average of 195,000 per month. In February, employment increased 

in professional and business services, construction, and health 

care. 

Employment in professional and business services rose by 

73,000 in February after being little changed (+16,000) in 

January. The industry had added an average of 47,000 jobs per 

month in 2012. In February, employment increased by 44,000 in 

administrative and support services, which includes employment 

services and services to buildings. Accounting and bookkeeping 

added 11,000 jobs, and employment growth continued in computer 

systems design and in management and technical consulting 

services. 
 

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Construction added 48,000 jobs in February. Since 

September, construction employment has increased by 151,000. In 

February, employment rose in residential and nonresidential 

specialty trade contractors (+17,000 and +15,000, respectively) 

and in nonresidential building (+6,000). 

Health care employment increased by 32,000 over the month, 

with gains throughout the component industries. Health care had 

added an average of 25,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 

months. 

In February, employment in the information industry 

increased (+20,000), due to a large gain in the motion picture 

and sound recording industry. Employment continued to trend up 

in retail trade, food services and drinking places, and 

wholesale trade. Employment in other major industries showed 

little change over the month. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls rose by 4 cents in February to $23.82. Over the past 12 

months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.1 percent. From 

January 2012 to January 2013, the Consumer Price Index for All 

Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.6 percent. 

Turning now to our survey of households, the unemployment 

rate edged down in February to 7.7 percent. Both the 

unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons, at 12.0 

million, have shown little movement, on net, since September. In 
 

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February, the labor force participation rate was little changed 

at 63.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio remained at 

58.6 percent. 

Among persons who were neither working nor looking for work 

in February, 2.6 million were classified as marginally attached 

to the labor force, unchanged from a year earlier. These 

individuals had not looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the 

survey but wanted a job, were available for work, and had looked 

for a job within the last 12 months. The number of discouraged 

workers, a subset of the marginally attached, edged down over 

the year to 885,000. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 236,000 in 

February, and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent.