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, April 4, 2003

Overall, labor market conditions remained relatively 

weak in March. Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 

108,000 over the month, following a steep job loss of 

357,000 in February (as revised). In March, job losses 

continued in manufacturing, retail trade, and 

transportation, and a job loss occurred in government. The 

unemployment rate held at 5.8 percent.

Looking in more detail at the March data from our 

survey of employers, manufacturing employment fell by 

36,000. Since last July, factory job losses have averaged 

about 50,000 per month. In March, the losses were again 

widespread. In fact, there were no significant employment 

gains in any of the component manufacturing industries. 

The most notable job decrease occurred in industrial 

machinery (-8,000), where losses have totaled nearly 
2

100,000 in the past year and more than 330,000 since the 

recession started 2 years ago. The manufacturing workweek 

was unchanged in March, at 40.8 hours, and factory overtime 

edged down by one-tenth of an hour to 4.0 hours.

Construction employment edged up by 21,000 in March, 

following a decline of 42,000 in February. On net, 

employment in the industry has been unchanged since April 

2002. 

Retail trade employment declined by 43,000 in March, 

mostly in eating and drinking places. Employment in retail

trade has been trending downward since its peak in June 

2001, and losses have totaled 470,000. Employment in 

wholesale trade was little changed for the third month in a 

row.

Employment in services was flat over the month, after 

sustaining a very large loss of 121,000 in February (as 

revised). Amusement and recreation services and hotels and 

other lodging places lost jobs on a seasonally adjusted 

basis, as each industry fell considerably short of its 

normal seasonal hiring in March. Agricultural services 

also failed to meet its normal March hiring, and, as a 

result, employment declined by 15,000 after seasonal 

adjustment. Employment in help supply services fell by

48,000 in March, the first loss in 4 months and the largest 
3

since September 2002. Employment declines continued in 

computer and data processing services (-10,000). Job gains

did occur elsewhere in services, however. For example, job 

growth in health services resumed, following a month in 

which employment was unchanged. Hiring in auto repair, 

educational, and social services also helped to moderate 

job losses in March. 

The transportation sector suffered another job loss 

over the month. Since January 2001, job losses in the 

industry have totaled 301,000, more than half coming in the 

3 months following the September 11 attacks. 

Employment growth was quite tepid in mortgage banking 

in March. This industry accounted for 70 percent of job 

growth in the finance, insurance, and real estate industry 

over the past year, as more consumers sought to take 

advantage of low interest rates by buying homes or 

refinancing existing mortgages. 

From March 2001, when the recession began, to February 

2003, the government sector had added an average of 26,000 

jobs a month. In March, however, employment declined by 

40,000, with most of the loss occurring in local education.

In March, average hourly earnings for production and 

nonsupervisory workers rose by 2 cents to $15.10. Combined 

with an unusually large increase of 9 cents in February (as 
4

revised) and a 1-cent rise in January, the quarterly total 

of 12 cents is very much in line with its recent pace. 

Over the year, average hourly earnings grew by 3.1 percent.

Looking at some of our measures obtained from the 

survey of households, the March unemployment rate of 5.8 

percent was the same as in February and within the 5.6-to6.0-percent range that has prevailed since November 2001. 

The jobless rates for adult men and adult women were 

unchanged over the month, and the rates for other major 

worker groups were little changed. 

There was little movement in other measures of 

unemployment as well. About 8.4 million persons were 

unemployed in March, of whom nearly 1.8 million had been 

jobless for 27 weeks or longer.

In summary, labor market conditions remained sluggish 

in March. Payroll job losses continued and the 

unemployment rate held at 5.8 percent.