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, July 7, 2006

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 121,000 in 

June, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.6 

percent. During the second quarter of this year, payroll 

employment growth averaged 108,000 per month, down from an 

average monthly gain of 169,000 over the 12-month period 

ending in March. Average hourly earnings increased by 8 

cents in June.

In the service-providing sector of the economy, health 

care employment continued to trend up over the month, with 

an increase of 19,000. Job gains occurred in hospitals, 

doctors’ offices, and nursing and residential care 

facilities. Over the past year, 278,000 jobs have been 

added in health care. 

Employment in professional and business services also 

continued to expand in June (+25,000). Although the 
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increase was in line with average monthly job growth for 

the first 5 months of this year, it was well below the 

average monthly gain for 2005 (+41,000). Over the month, 

employment was up in accounting services and in computer 

systems design. The job total in temporary help services 

edged lower in June. Employment in the temporary help 

industry has drifted down during the first half of this 

year, after trending up since the spring of 2003.

Local government employment was up in June (+24,000),

with most of the gain in functions other than education. 

Government employment was essentially unchanged over the 

month at the state and Federal levels.

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment

in food services continued to trend up in June, although 

there appears to have been some moderation in the rate of 

job growth in recent months. Financial activities had 

little job growth for the second month in a row; employment 

in the industry had been expanding fairly steadily since 

mid-2005. Employment in retail trade was little changed in 

June, following 2 months of sizable declines. Within 

retail, job losses in general merchandise stores have 

totaled 61,000 over the past 3 months. 

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing 

employment edged up by 15,000 in June. Some 55,000 jobs 
3

have been added in the nation’s factories (on net) since 

October 2005; the gain has been concentrated in a few 

durable goods industries, including machinery, fabricated 

metals, electrical equipment, and transportation equipment. 

Overall, the factory workweek increased by 0.1 hour in 

June, while manufacturing overtime was unchanged. 

Employment in mining rose in June, as hiring continued 

in support activities for oil and gas operations. 

Construction employment essentially held steady for the 

fourth consecutive month, reflecting recent moderation in 

residential construction activity.

Average hourly earnings for private sector production 

and nonsupervisory workers increased by 8 cents in June, 

following gains of 1 cent in May and 10 cents in April. 

Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 3.9 

percent. 

Turning to the data from the household survey, the 

unemployment rate held at 4.6 percent in June, and the 

number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 

7.0 million. The number of long-term unemployed--those who 

have been seeking jobs for 27 weeks or longer--fell by 

217,000 over the month to 1.1 million. The labor force 

participation rate and the employment-population ratio were 
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little changed over the month at 66.2 and 63.1 percent, 

respectively.

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 121,000 

in June, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.6 

percent.