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 7, 2014

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 175,000 in February, and 

the unemployment rate, at 6.7 percent, changed little. 

Employment increased in professional and business services and 

in wholesale trade but fell in the information industry. 

Incorporating the revisions for December and January, which 

increased nonfarm employment by 25,000 on net, monthly job gains 

have averaged 129,000 over the past 3 months. In the 12 months 

prior to February, employment growth averaged 189,000 per month. 

Employment in professional and business services rose by 

79,000 in February. Within the industry, accounting and 

bookkeeping services added 16,000 jobs. Employment continued to 

trend up in temporary help services (+24,000) and in services to 

buildings and dwellings (+11,000). 
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In February, wholesale trade employment increased by 

15,000, mostly in durable goods. Over the prior 12 months, 

wholesale trade added an average of 9,000 jobs per month. 

Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services 

and drinking places continued to trend up in February (+21,000). 

Over the prior 12 months, food services and drinking places 

added an average of 27,000 jobs per month. 

Construction employment changed little in February 

(+15,000). Within construction, employment in heavy and civil 

engineering increased by 12,000 over the month. 

Health care employment changed little in February (+10,000) 

and has shown little movement since November. Within the 

industry, offices of physicians added 8,000 jobs in February. 

Employment in hospitals changed little over the month but is 

down by 10,000 since November. 

Employment in the information industry decreased by 16,000 

in February, reflecting a decline in motion picture and sound 

recording (-14,000). Employment in the motion picture industry 

can be volatile from month to month. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls rose by 9 cents in February. Over the past 12 months, 

average hourly earnings have risen by 52 cents, or 2.2 percent. 

From January 2013 to January 2014, the Consumer Price Index for 

All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose by 1.6 percent. 
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Turning now to our survey of households, both the 

unemployment rate, at 6.7 percent, and the number of unemployed 

persons, at 10.5 million, were little changed in February. The 

number of unemployed persons who had been jobless for 27 weeks 

or more rose to 3.8 million, or 37 percent of the unemployed. 

The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 63.0 

percent in February. Over the year, the labor force 

participation rate has declined by 0.5 percentage point. 

The employment-population ratio, at 58.8 percent, was 

unchanged in February and has shown little movement, on net, 

over the past 12 months. 

Among persons who were neither working nor looking for work 

in February, 2.3 million were classified as marginally attached 

to the labor force, down by 285,000 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 who believed that 

no jobs were available for them, was 755,000 in February, down 

by 130,000 from a year earlier. 

Severe winter weather occurred in much of the country 

during the February reference periods for the establishment and 

household surveys. Information on how weather can affect 

employment and hours data can be found in Question 8 in the 
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Frequently Asked Questions section of our news release and on 

our Web site at www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.faq.htm. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 

in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 6.7 

percent.