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, September 2, 2005

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 169,000 in August, 

following a gain of 242,000 in July (as revised). The 

unemployment rate, at 4.9 percent in August, was little 

changed; the jobless rate has decreased by 0.5 percentage 

point since February. Payroll employment has increased by 

2.2 million over the year. In August, job growth continued 

in several industries, with notable gains in health care, 

accommodations and food services, and construction. 

Manufacturing employment edged down over the month. 

(Hurricane Katrina struck Florida and the Gulf Coast after 

the August survey reference period, and therefore did not 

affect August estimates from the payroll and household 

surveys.)
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Health care added 26,000 jobs in August. Employment 

in the industry has increased by 264,000 over the year. 

Over the month, employment rose in hospitals and ambulatory 

health care services, such as doctors’ offices.

Employment growth continued in accommodations and 

food services. Over the year, employment in food services 

has increased by 280,000.

Wholesale trade employment continued to trend up in 

August. Since its most recent trough in August 2003, the 

industry has added 150,000 jobs. Most of this gain 

occurred in durable goods and in electronic market 

components. Retail trade employment was little changed in 

August, following a large increase in July. Over the year, 

the industry has added 224,000 jobs. Employment in 

financial activities rose by 15,000 in August and by 

184,000 over the year.

Employment continued to expand in professional and 

business services in August. Over the year, the industry 

added 507,000 jobs. In August, employment in temporary 

help was about unchanged; job growth in the industry has 

slowed since last fall.

Within the goods-producing sector, employment in 

construction rose by 25,000 in August and has increased by 

277,000 over the year. Nearly three-fourths of August’s 
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job gain occurred among specialty trade contractors. 

Employment in mining edged up over the month and has risen 

by 67,000 since its most recent trough in April 2003. Much 

of the increase over this period has been in support 

activities for oil and gas.

Manufacturing employment edged down in August; over 

the year, factory job losses have totaled 110,000. Over 

the month, employment continued to decline in motor 

vehicles and parts. Since May, this industry has shed 

37,000 jobs. Both the factory workweek, at 40.5 hours, and 

factory overtime, at 4.5 hours, were unchanged over the 

month.

Average hourly earnings of private production or 

nonsupervisory workers rose by 2 cents in August to $16.16, 

following a 7-cent increase in July. Over the year, 

average hourly earnings have grown by 2.7 percent.

Turning to data from the household survey, the 

unemployment rate was little changed in August at 4.9 

percent but has trended down since February, when it was 

5.4 percent. The jobless rate for adult women declined 

over the month, while the rates for the other major worker 

groups showed little or no change from July.
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Total employment continued to trend up in August. 

The employment-to-population ratio, at 62.9 percent, is 0.6 

percentage point higher than it was in February.

As part of our mission reporting on America’s workers 

each month, and in recognition of Labor Day this coming 

Monday, I would like to highlight a few characteristics of 

our Nation’s labor force, which now totals nearly 150 

million workers.

The American labor force is demographically diverse. 

Women make up nearly half of the labor force (46 percent in 

2004). By race and ethnicity, non-Hispanic whites make up 

the largest share of the labor force (70 percent). 

Hispanics are the next largest group accounting for 13 

percent of the total, followed by non-Hispanic blacks and 

Asians (11 and 4 percent, respectively). About 1 in 7 

labor force participants in the U.S. are immigrants. 

Between 2000 and 2004, these foreign-born workers have 

accounted for about half of the net labor force growth. 

Looking at education and the type of occupations 

workers hold, three-fifths of employed persons age 25 and 

over have some post-secondary schooling. One-third of 

workers have a college degree or more. Only 10 percent 

have less than a high school diploma. A little over a 

third of employed individuals work in management or 
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professional occupations and about one-fourth hold sales 

and office jobs. Sixteen percent are service workers, and 

13 percent are employed in production and transportation 

occupations. Natural resources, construction, and 

maintenance occupations account for the remainder.

Returning to August’s labor market developments, 

nonfarm payroll employment rose by 169,000, and the 

unemployment rate was 4.9 percent.