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 

Keith Hall 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

before the 

Joint Economic Committee 

UNITED STATES CONGRESS 

Friday, May 2, 2008

Madam Chair and Members of the Committee: 

 Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the April 

employment and unemployment statistics we released this morning. 

 Nonfarm payroll employment changed little in April 

(-20,000), following job losses in the first quarter that 

averaged 80,000 per month. In April, employment continued to 

decline in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade, while 

jobs were added in health care and in professional and technical 

services. The unemployment rate, at 5.0 percent, was little 

changed. 

Within the goods-producing sector, employment in 

construction declined by 61,000. Since its peak in September 

2006, construction employment has fallen by 457,000. Over the 
2

last 6 months, job losses averaged 50,000 per month, compared 

with an average loss of 12,000 per month from September 2006 to 

October 2007. 

 Manufacturing employment continued to decline in April. 

Job losses totaled 46,000 and were concentrated in durable goods 

manufacturing. Manufacturing hours fell from 41.2 to 40.9 hours 

over the month, with reductions widespread across both durable 

and nondurable industries. Factory overtime was down by 

one-tenth of an hour. 

 In the service-providing sector, retail trade employment 

continued to trend down. Since a peak in March 2007, the 

industry has shed 137,000 jobs. In April, job declines occurred 

in building and garden supply stores and in department stores. 

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, health care 

employment expanded by 37,000, with continued growth in 

hospitals, home health care, and doctors’ offices. Professional 

and technical services added 27,000 jobs in April, following 3 

months in which employment was about unchanged. Employment in 

food services continued to trend up over the month, although the 

pace of job growth has slowed in recent months. 

 Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory 

workers in the private sector were up by 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, 

in April and by 3.4 percent over the past 12 months. From March 
3

2007 to March 2008, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 

Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) rose by 4.3 percent. 

 Turning to data from the household survey, both the number 

of unemployed persons (7.6 million) and the unemployment rate 

(5.0 percent) were little changed in April. Over the past 12 

months, the jobless rate has risen by 0.5 percentage point and 

the number of unemployed individuals has risen by 797,000. 

Although the number of unemployed persons who had been searching 

for work for 27 weeks or more increased by 160,000, their share 

of total unemployment changed little. Over the month, the 

number of persons who were unemployed due to job loss was little 

changed, at 4.0 million, but was up by 698,000 from a year 

earlier. These job losers accounted for 53 percent of all 

unemployed persons in April, up from 49 percent 12 months 

earlier. (Other groups of unemployed persons include those 

entering the labor market for the first time, those re-entering 

after an absence, and those who voluntarily leave jobs.) 

 The number of persons in the labor force was about 

unchanged over the month, and the labor force participation rate 

held at 66.0 percent. In April, 62.7 percent of the population 

was employed, essentially unchanged from the prior month but 

down from a recent peak of 63.4 percent at the end of 2006. The 

number of persons working part time who prefer full-time 

employment rose by 306,000 in April to 5.2 million. Over the 
4

past 12 months, involuntary part-time employment has increased 

by 849,000. 

 To summarize April’s labor market developments, payroll 

employment was little changed at 137.8 million, as was the 

unemployment rate, at 5.0 percent. 

 My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your 

questions.