FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.

FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2004

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

before the

Joint Economic Committee

UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Friday, May 7, 2004

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor 

market data that we released this morning.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 288,000 in April, 

on the heels of an even larger job gain in March (337,000). 

Since August 2003, payroll employment has risen by 1.1 

million. In April, job growth was widespread for the 

second consecutive month. Employment increased 

substantially in several service-providing industries, 

construction employment continued to expand, and there was 

a noteworthy job gain in durable goods manufacturing. The 
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unemployment rate, at 5.6 percent in April, was little 

changed over the month.

Among the goods-producing industries, construction 

employment continued to trend upward in April (18,000). 

Since March 2003, the industry has added 213,000 jobs, 

bringing construction employment slightly above its most 

recent peak in March 2001. 

Following a protracted period of job decline, factory 

employment edged up over the past 3 months. I would note 

that data for both February and March were revised slightly 

upward into positive territory. The recent improvement in 

manufacturing employment has occurred largely in the 

durable goods component. In April, durable goods 

employment rose by 20,000, with notable job gains in both 

fabricated metals (10,000) and machinery (4,000). 

A number of service-providing industries added jobs 

over the month. Employment in professional and business 

services increased by 123,000 and has risen by about a half 

million since March 2003. Roughly half of the over-themonth gain in this diverse sector occurred in employment 

services, where the temporary help industry added 35,000

jobs. Employment in temporary help has grown by 261,000 

over the past year. In April, employment increased by 

7,000 in architectural and engineering services and by 
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8,000 in management consulting. In addition, employment in

businesses that supply services to buildings and dwellings 

rose sharply (30,000), with most of the gain occurring in 

landscaping services. 

Within education and health services, employment 

increased by 30,000 in health care and social assistance. 

Job gains occurred in hospitals and in outpatient care 

centers. In leisure and hospitality, the food services 

industry continued to add jobs in April (34,000). So far 

this year, employment increases in food services have 

averaged 28,000 a month, twice the average monthly increase 

for 2003.

Elsewhere in the service-providing industries, 

employment in retail trade edged up over the month, 

following a sizable increase in March. In April, building 

material and garden supply stores added 10,000 jobs, and 

employment in motor vehicle and parts dealerships rose by 

6,000. Wholesale trade employment was little changed in 

April, but the industry has added 49,000 jobs since 

October. Within the financial sector, employment in credit 

intermediation and in real estate continued to edge up, 

reflecting strength in the housing market. 
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In April, average hourly earnings for production or 

nonsupervisory workers rose by 5 cents to $15.59. Over the 

year, average hourly earnings grew by 2.2 percent.

Looking at some of our measures obtained from the 

survey of households, the April unemployment rate was 5.6 

percent. The jobless rate has shown essentially no 

movement since last December. 

In April, the labor force participation rate was 65.9 

percent for the third consecutive month. Nearly 8.2 

million persons were unemployed in April. The number of 

persons who had been jobless for 27 weeks or longer 

declined by 188,000, to 1.8 million.

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 

288,000 in April and is up by 1.1 million since last 

August. The unemployment rate was little changed over the 

month, at 5.6 percent. 

My colleagues and I now would be glad to address your 

questions.