Technical information:
   Household data:  (202) 691-6378     USDL 05-30
           http://www.bls.gov/cps/

   Establishment data:    691-6555     Transmission of material in this release
           http://www.bls.gov/ces/     is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EST),
Media contact:            691-5902     Friday, January 7, 2005.
                                        
                                        
                    THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION:  DECEMBER 2004

   Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in December, and the unem-
ployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Job growth continued in sev-
eral service-providing industries.
   
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
   
   Both the number of unemployed persons, 8.0 million, and the unemployment
rate, 5.4 percent, were unchanged in December.  The jobless rate has been
either 5.4 or 5.5 percent in each month since July, slightly below the rates
that prevailed in the first half of 2004.
   
   In December, the unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men
(4.9 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (17.6 percent), whites
(4.6 percent), blacks (10.8 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.6 percent)--
showed little or no change over the month.  The unemployment rate for Asians
was 4.1 percent in December, not seasonally adjusted.  (See tables A-1, A-2,
and A-3.)
   
   The number of long-term unemployed--those unemployed 27 weeks and over--was
about unchanged over the month.  This group accounted for 20.2 percent of the
total unemployed.

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
   
   Total employment, at 140.2 million in December, was little changed over the
month but was 1.7 million higher than a year earlier.  The proportion of the
working-age population that was employed (the employment-population ratio) was
62.4 percent in December, about the same as a year earlier.  Both the civilian
labor force, at 148.2 million in December, and the labor force participation
rate, at 66.0 percent, were about unchanged from the previous month.  (See
table A-1.)
   
   The number of persons who work part time for economic reasons, at 4.5 mil-
lion, was about unchanged in December but was down by 308,000 over the year.
This category includes persons who indicated that they would like to work full
time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or be-
cause they were unable to find full-time jobs.  (See table A-5.)

   Over the year, the number of persons who held more than one job increased
by 574,000 to 7.8 million, not seasonally adjusted.  These multiple jobholders
represented 5.6 percent of total employment in December.  (See table A-13.)

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 |    Seasonally adjusted household survey data have been revised       |
 | using updated seasonal adjustment factors that incorporate 2004      |
 | data.  Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2000 were sub-  |
 | ject to revision.  The unemployment rates for January-December 2004, |
 | as originally published and as revised, appear on page 5, along with |
 | additional information on the revisions.                             |
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  - 2 -

Table A.  Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
______________________________________________________________________________
                         |    Quarterly    |                          |
                         |    averages     |        Monthly data      |
                         |_________________|__________________________| Nov.-
        Category         |      2004       |           2004           | Dec.
                         |_________________|__________________________|change
                         |   III  |   IV   |  Oct.  |  Nov.  | Dec.   |
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
     HOUSEHOLD DATA      |                 Labor force status
                         |____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force.....| 147,677| 148,136| 147,893| 148,313| 148,203|   -110
  Employment.............| 139,608| 140,092| 139,827| 140,293| 140,156|   -137
  Unemployment...........|   8,069|   8,044|   8,066|   8,020|   8,047|     27
Not in labor force.......|  76,003|  76,282|  76,299|  76,109|  76,437|    328
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |                 Unemployment rates
                         |____________________________________________________
All workers..............|     5.5|     5.4|     5.5|     5.4|     5.4|    0.0
  Adult men..............|     5.0|     4.9|     4.9|     4.9|     4.9|     .0
  Adult women............|     4.8|     4.7|     4.8|     4.7|     4.7|     .0
  Teenagers..............|    17.1|    17.1|    17.2|    16.5|    17.6|    1.1
  White..................|     4.7|     4.6|     4.7|     4.6|     4.6|     .0
  Black or African       |        |        |        |        |        |
    American.............|    10.6|    10.8|    10.7|    10.8|    10.8|     .0
  Hispanic or Latino     |        |        |        |        |        |
    ethnicity............|     6.9|     6.7|     6.7|     6.7|     6.6|    -.1
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
  ESTABLISHMENT DATA     |                     Employment
                         |____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment.......| 131,515|p132,116| 131,972|p132,109|p132,266|   p157
  Goods-producing 1/.....|  21,934| p22,021|  22,016| p22,017| p22,030|    p13
    Construction.........|   6,937|  p7,025|   7,018|  p7,025|  p7,032|     p7
    Manufacturing........|  14,406| p14,401|  14,406| p14,397| p14,400|     p3
  Service-providing 1/...| 109,580|p110,095| 109,956|p110,092|p110,236|   p144
    Retail trade 2/......|  15,039| p15,055|  15,056| p15,065| p15,045|   p-20
    Professional and     |        |        |        |        |        |
      business services..|  16,519| p16,671|  16,643| p16,664| p16,705|    p41
    Education and health |        |        |        |        |        |
      services...........|  16,949| p17,089|  17,049| p17,086| p17,133|    p47
    Leisure and          |        |        |        |        |        |
      hospitality........|  12,346| p12,383|  12,362| p12,387| p12,399|    p12
    Government...........|  21,618| p21,693|  21,675| p21,687| p21,716|    p29
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |                  Hours of work 3/
                         |____________________________________________________
Total private............|    33.8|   p33.8|    33.8|   p33.7|   p33.8|   p0.1
  Manufacturing..........|    40.8|   p40.5|    40.6|   p40.5|   p40.5|    p.0
    Overtime.............|     4.6|    p4.5|     4.5|    p4.5|    p4.5|    p.0
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |    Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 3/
                         |____________________________________________________
Total private............|   100.6|  p101.1|   101.1|  p100.9|  p101.3|   p0.4
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |                    Earnings 3/
                         |____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings,    |        |        |        |        |        |
  total private..........|  $15.75| p$15.84|  $15.82| p$15.84| p$15.86| p$0.02
Avg. weekly earnings,    |        |        |        |        |        |
  total private..........|  531.82| p534.87|  534.72| p533.81| p536.07|  p2.26
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______

   1  Includes other industries, not shown separately.
   2  Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated based on
unrounded data.
   3  Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
   p=preliminary.
   NOTE:  Seasonally adjusted household data have been revised.  See note on
Page 5.
   
                                  - 3 -

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
   
   There were 1.5 million persons who were marginally attached to the labor
force in December, essentially the same as a year earlier.  (Data are not sea-
sonally adjusted.)  These individuals wanted and were available to work and
had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.  They were not counted 
as unemployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4
weeks preceding the survey.  Among the marginally attached, there were 442,000
discouraged workers in December, about the same as a year earlier.  Discouraged
workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed
no jobs were available for them.  The other 1.0 million marginally attached
had not searched for work for reasons such as school or family responsibili-
ties.  (See table A-13.)
   
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

   Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 157,000 in December to 132.3
million, seasonally adjusted.  This increase followed a gain of 137,000 in
November (as revised).  Over the year, payroll employment grew by 2.2 million.
December's increase included gains in health care and social assistance, pro-
fessional and business services, wholesale trade, and financial activities.
(See table B-1.)
   
   Health care and social assistance continued to add jobs over the month,
with an increase of 36,000.  Over the year, employment in this industry rose
by 342,000.  In December, employment increased in ambulatory health care ser-
vices (17,000), hospitals (5,000), and social assistance (13,000).
   
   Professional and business services added 41,000 jobs over the month, bring-
ing the over-the-year gain to 546,000.  In December, employment rose in com-
puter systems design and related services (10,000) and in architectural and
engineering services (7,000).  Employment in the temporary help industry
continued to trend upward; job growth totaled 206,000 in 2004.
   
   Employment in wholesale trade increased by 17,000 in December and by
97,000 over the year.  About 10,000 of the over-the-month gain was in its
durable goods component.
   
   Employment in financial activities rose over the month (14,000) and in-
creased by 140,000 in 2004.  Over the year, strength in the housing market
continued to stimulate hiring in the industry.  Credit intermediation added
9,000 jobs in December, bringing the total to 64,000 for all of 2004.  Real
estate employment was flat in December but was up by 42,000 over the year.
   
   Retail trade employment edged down in December, after seasonal adjustment.
Since reaching a low point in December 2003, however, retailers have added
169,000 jobs.  Building material and garden supply stores and clothing and
accessory stores contributed about 50,000 jobs each to the over-the-year gain.
   
   In December, construction employment was little changed for the second
month in a row.  However, the industry has added 371,000 jobs since its re-
cent low point in March 2003.
   
   Manufacturing employment was about unchanged in December.  The industry
added 76,000 jobs in 2004; nearly all of the gain occurred early in the year.

                                  - 4 -

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
   
   The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour in December to 33.8 hours, seasonally
adjusted.  Both the manufacturing workweek and factory overtime were unchanged
at 40.5 hours and 4.5 hours, respectively.  (See table B-2.)
   
   The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.4 percent in December to 101.3 (2002=100),
following a decrease of 0.2 percent in November.  The manufacturing index was
unchanged over the month at 94.3.  (See table B-5.)
   
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
   
   Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls increased by 2 cents in December to $15.86, seasonally ad-
justed.  Average weekly earnings increased by 0.4 percent over the month to
$536.07.  Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.7 percent,
and average weekly earnings grew by 3.3 percent.  (See table B-3.)

                         ______________________________


   The Employment Situation for January 2005 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, February 4, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).

  ----------------------------------------------------------------
 |          Revisions in the Establishment Survey Data            |
 |                                                                |
 |    With the release of January data on February 4, BLS will    |
 | introduce revisions to the nonfarm payroll employment, hours,  |
 | and earnings data to reflect the annual benchmark adjustments  |
 | for March 2004 and updated seasonal adjustment factors.  Un-   |
 | adjusted data since April 2003 and seasonally adjusted data    |
 | since January 2000 are subject to revision.                    |
 |                                                                |
 |    Also with the publication of January data, BLS will in-     |
 | clude separate employment series for motor vehicle and parts   |
 | manufacturing and health care in table B-1 of this release.    |
 | In addition, within construction, four new series will be      |
 | added: residential specialty trade contractors, nonresidential |
 | specialty trade contractors, residential building contractors, |
 | and nonresidential building contractors.  More information on  |
 | the addition of these new series is available on the BLS Web   |
 | site at http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnewseries.htm.               |
  ----------------------------------------------------------------

  ----------------------------------------------------------------
 |          Planned Changes in the Household Survey Data          |
 |                                                                |
 |   Effective with the release of data for January 2005, revi-   |
 | sions will be introduced into the population controls for the  |
 | household survey.  These changes reflect the routine annual    |
 | updating of intercensal population estimates by the U.S.       |
 | Census Bureau.                                                 |
  ----------------------------------------------------------------

                                  - 5 -

            Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

   At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal ad-
justment factors for the labor force series derived from the Current Popula-
tion Survey (CPS), or household survey, to incorporate the data for that
year.  This year, seasonally adjusted data for January 2000-December 2004 were
subject to revision.  (Seasonally adjusted establishment data will be revised
next month, concurrent with the introduction of annual benchmark adjustments.)
   
   Table B summarizes the effects of the revisions on the overall unemploy-
ment rate since January 2004.  The rate was revised in 2 months, in each case
by +/-0.1 percentage point.  Revised seasonally adjusted data for major labor
force series since December 2003 appear in table C.
   
   Beginning with the release of December 2003 data in January 2004, BLS
converted to the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment to produce seasonally
adjusted labor force estimates from the CPS.  Concurrent seasonal adjustment
uses all available monthly estimates, including those for the most current
month, in developing seasonal factors.  Due to this change in methodology,
BLS no longer publishes seasonal factors for the CPS estimates.  Historical
seasonally adjusted household survey data are revised only at the end of each
calendar year.
   
   The January 2005 issue of Employment and Earnings will contain an article
describing the current seasonal adjustment methodology for the household sur-
vey data and revised data for the most recent months or quarters for all re-
gularly published tables containing seasonally adjusted household survey data.
A copy of the article is available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsrs2005.pdf
on the Internet.  Historical data for the household series contained in the
"A" tables of this release also can be accessed at http://www.bls.gov/cps/
cpsatabs.htm on the BLS Internet site.  Revised historical seasonally adjusted
monthly and quarterly data also are available on the Internet at ftp://ftp.
bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/.

Table B.  Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates and changes
due to revision, January-December 2004

---------------------------------------------------------------
                     |              |             |
   Month and year    |   As first   |      As     |   Change
                     |   published  |   revised   |
                     |              |             |
---------------------------------------------------------------
                     |              |             |
        2004         |              |             |
                     |              |             |
January..............|      5.6     |     5.7     |     0.1
February.............|      5.6     |     5.6     |      .0
March................|      5.7     |     5.7     |      .0
April................|      5.6     |     5.5     |     -.1
May..................|      5.6     |     5.6     |      .0
June.................|      5.6     |     5.6     |      .0
July.................|      5.5     |     5.5     |      .0
August...............|      5.4     |     5.4     |      .0
September............|      5.4     |     5.4     |      .0
October..............|      5.5     |     5.5     |      .0
November.............|      5.4     |     5.4     |      .0
December.............|      5.4     |     (1)     |     (1)
---------------------------------------------------------------
  1/  Because of the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment,
there is no revised estimate for December.
 
                                  - 6 -

  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                                                                 HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table C.  Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age, seasonally adjusted

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                               
                                             2003                                                       2004                                                   
      Employment status, sex, and age                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                               
                                             Dec.     Jan.     Feb.     Mar.     Apr.      May     June     July     Aug.     Sept.    Oct.     Nov.     Dec.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                   TOTAL                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                               
  Civilian noninstitutional population                                                                                                                         
     (1)..................................  222,509  222,161  222,357  222,550  222,757  222,967  223,196  223,422  223,677  223,941  224,192  224,422  224,640
    Civilian labor force..................  146,808  146,785  146,529  146,737  146,788  147,018  147,386  147,823  147,676  147,531  147,893  148,313  148,203
          Participation rate..............     66.0     66.1     65.9     65.9     65.9     65.9     66.0     66.2     66.0     65.9     66.0     66.1     66.0
      Employed............................  138,409  138,481  138,334  138,408  138,645  138,846  139,158  139,639  139,658  139,527  139,827  140,293  140,156
          Employment-population ratio.....     62.2     62.3     62.2     62.2     62.2     62.3     62.3     62.5     62.4     62.3     62.4     62.5     62.4
      Unemployed..........................    8,399    8,303    8,195    8,330    8,143    8,172    8,228    8,184    8,018    8,005    8,066    8,020    8,047
          Unemployment rate...............      5.7      5.7      5.6      5.7      5.5      5.6      5.6      5.5      5.4      5.4      5.5      5.4      5.4
                                                                                                                                                               
           Men, 20 years and over                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                               
  Civilian noninstitutional population                                                                                                                         
     (1)..................................   98,927   98,866   98,966   99,065   99,170   99,279   99,396   99,512   99,642   99,776   99,904  100,017  100,126
    Civilian labor force..................   75,103   75,139   74,854   75,035   74,908   75,095   75,361   75,567   75,615   75,462   75,632   75,866   75,754
          Participation rate..............     75.9     76.0     75.6     75.7     75.5     75.6     75.8     75.9     75.9     75.6     75.7     75.9     75.7
      Employed............................   71,135   71,283   71,014   71,158   71,158   71,226   71,575   71,830   71,847   71,701   71,895   72,134   72,020
          Employment-population ratio.....     71.9     72.1     71.8     71.8     71.8     71.7     72.0     72.2     72.1     71.9     72.0     72.1     71.9
      Unemployed..........................    3,968    3,856    3,840    3,877    3,751    3,869    3,786    3,737    3,768    3,761    3,736    3,733    3,733
          Unemployment rate...............      5.3      5.1      5.1      5.2      5.0      5.2      5.0      4.9      5.0      5.0      4.9      4.9      4.9
                                                                                                                                                               
          Women, 20 years and over                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                               
  Civilian noninstitutional population                                                                                                                         
     (1)..................................  107,404  107,131  107,216  107,299  107,389  107,483  107,586  107,687  107,801  107,920  108,032  108,129  108,221
    Civilian labor force..................   64,743   64,475   64,636   64,723   64,776   64,803   64,989   65,085   64,909   65,008   65,126   65,244   65,260
          Participation rate..............     60.3     60.2     60.3     60.3     60.3     60.3     60.4     60.4     60.2     60.2     60.3     60.3     60.3
      Employed............................   61,437   61,237   61,456   61,424   61,591   61,723   61,731   61,902   61,877   61,939   62,024   62,145   62,208
          Employment-population ratio.....     57.2     57.2     57.3     57.2     57.4     57.4     57.4     57.5     57.4     57.4     57.4     57.5     57.5
      Unemployed..........................    3,306    3,238    3,179    3,299    3,185    3,080    3,259    3,183    3,032    3,069    3,102    3,099    3,051
          Unemployment rate...............      5.1      5.0      4.9      5.1      4.9      4.8      5.0      4.9      4.7      4.7      4.8      4.7      4.7
                                                                                                                                                               
         Both sexes, 16 to 19 years                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                               
  Civilian noninstitutional population                                                                                                                         
     (1)..................................   16,178   16,164   16,175   16,186   16,198   16,205   16,214   16,222   16,234   16,246   16,257   16,275   16,293
    Civilian labor force..................    6,961    7,171    7,039    6,979    7,104    7,120    7,036    7,172    7,152    7,062    7,135    7,202    7,189
          Participation rate..............     43.0     44.4     43.5     43.1     43.9     43.9     43.4     44.2     44.1     43.5     43.9     44.2     44.1
      Employed............................    5,836    5,962    5,864    5,825    5,897    5,896    5,853    5,907    5,934    5,887    5,908    6,014    5,927
          Employment-population ratio.....     36.1     36.9     36.3     36.0     36.4     36.4     36.1     36.4     36.6     36.2     36.3     36.9     36.4
      Unemployed..........................    1,125    1,209    1,175    1,154    1,207    1,223    1,184    1,265    1,217    1,175    1,227    1,188    1,262
          Unemployment rate...............     16.2     16.9     16.7     16.5     17.0     17.2     16.8     17.6     17.0     16.6     17.2     16.5     17.6

    1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.
    NOTE:  Data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.




     
                                  - 7 -

Explanatory Note


   This news release presents statistics from two major surveys, the Current
Population Survey (household survey) and the Current Employment Statistics
survey (establishment survey).  The household survey provides the informa-
tion on the labor force, employment, and unemployment that appears in the
A tables, marked HOUSEHOLD DATA.  It is a sample survey of about 60,000 house-
holds conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS).
 
   The establishment survey provides the information on the employment,
hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls that appears in the 
B tables, marked ESTABLISHMENT DATA.  This information is collected from
payroll records by BLS in cooperation with state agencies.  The sample 
includes about 160,000 businesses and government agencies covering ap-
proximately 400,000 individual worksites.  The active sample includes 
about one-third of all nonfarm payroll workers.  The sample is drawn 
from a sampling frame of unemployment insurance tax accounts.

   For both surveys, the data for a given month  relate to a particular week
or pay period.  In the household survey,  the reference week is generally
the calendar week that contains the 12th day of the month.  In the establish-
ment survey, the reference  period is the pay period including the 12th,
which may or may not correspond directly to the calendar week.

Coverage, definitions, and differences between surveys
 
   Household survey.  The sample  is selected  to reflect the entire
civilian noninstitutional population.  Based on responses to a series of
questions on work and job search activities, each person  16 years and over
in a sample household is classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the
labor force.
   
   People are classified as employed if they did any work at all as paid
employees during the reference week; worked in their own business, pro-
fession, or on their own farm; or worked without pay at least 15 hours
in a family business or farm.  People are also counted as employed if they
were temporarily absent from their jobs because of illness, bad weather,
vacation, labor-management disputes, or personal reasons.
 
   People are classified as unemployed if they meet all of the following
criteria:  They had no employment during the  reference week; they were
available for work at that time; and they made specific efforts to find
employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference
week.  Persons laid off from  a job and expecting recall   need not be
looking for work to be counted as unemployed.  The unemployment data
derived from the household survey in no way depend upon the eligibility
for or receipt of unemployment insurance benefits.
 
   The civilian labor force  is the sum of employed and  unemployed persons.
Those not classified as employed or unemployed are not in the labor force.
The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a percent of the  labor
force.  The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent
of the population, and the employment-population ratio is the employed as a
percent of the population.
                                  
                                  - 8 -
 
   Establishment survey.  The sample establishments are drawn from pri-
vate nonfarm businesses such as factories, offices, and stores, as well
as federal, state, and local government entities.  Employees on nonfarm
payrolls are those who received pay for any part of the reference pay
period, including persons on paid leave.  Persons are counted in each job
they hold.  Hours and earnings data are for private businesses and relate
only to production workers in the goods-producing sector and nonsupervisory
workers in the service-providing sector.  Industries are classified on the
basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2002 version of
the North American Industry Classification System.

   Differences in employment estimates.  The numerous conceptual and method-
ological differences between the household and establishment surveys result
in important distinctions in the employment estimates derived from the sur-
veys.  Among these are:
 
   --The household survey includes agricultural workers, the self-employed,
unpaid family workers, and private household workers among the employed.
These groups are excluded from the establishment survey.

   --The household survey includes people on unpaid leave among the employed.
The establishment survey does not.
 
   --The household survey is limited to  workers 16 years of age and older.
The establishment survey is not limited by age.
 
   --The  household survey has no duplication of individuals, because in-
dividuals  are counted only once, even if they hold more than one job. In
the establishment survey, employees working at more than one job  and thus
appearing on more than one payroll would be counted separately for each
appearance.
 
Seasonal adjustment
 
   Over the course of a year, the size of the nation's labor force and the
levels of employment and unemployment undergo sharp fluctuations due to
such seasonal events as changes in weather, reduced or expanded production,
harvests, major holidays, and the opening and closing of schools.  The ef-
fect of such seasonal  variation can  be  very large; seasonal fluctua-
tions may account for as much as 95 percent of the month-to-month changes
in unemployment.
 
   Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern
each year, their influence on statistical trends can be eliminated by ad-
justing the statistics from month to month.  These adjustments make non-
seasonal
developments, such as declines in economic activity or increases in the
participation of women in the labor force, easier to spot.  For example,
the large number of youth entering the labor force each June is likely to
obscure any other changes that have taken place relative to May, making it
difficult to determine if the level of economic activity has risen or
declined.  However, because the effect of students finishing school in
previous years is known, the statistics for the current year can be
adjusted to allow for a comparable change.  Insofar as the seasonal
adjustment is made correctly, the adjusted figure provides a more useful
tool with which to analyze changes in economic activity.
 
                                  - 9 -
 
   Most seasonally adjusted series are independently adjusted in both the 
household and establishment surveys.  However, the adjusted series for many 
major estimates, such as total payroll employment, employment in most super-
sectors, total employment, and unemployment are computed by aggregating in-
dependently adjusted component series.  For example, total unemployment is 
derived by summing the adjusted series for four major age-sex components; 
this differs from the unemployment estimate that would be obtained by di-
rectly adjusting the total or by combining the duration, reasons, or more 
detailed age categories.

   For both the household and establishment surveys, a concurrent seasonal
adjustment methodology is used in which new seasonal factors are calculated 
each month, using all relevant data, up to and including the data for the 
current month.  In the household survey, new seasonal factors are used to
adjust only the current month's data.  In the establishment survey, however, 
new seasonal factors are used each month to adjust the three most recent 
monthly estimates.  In both surveys, revisions to historical data are made 
once a year.

Reliability of the estimates
 
   Statistics based on the household and establishment surveys are subject
to both sampling and nonsampling error.  When a sample rather than the
entire population is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates
may differ from the "true" population values they represent.  The exact
difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the particular sample
selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the
estimate.  There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that
an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard
errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error.  BLS
analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.
 
   For example, the confidence interval for the monthly change in total
employment from the household survey is on the order of plus or minus
350,000.  Suppose the estimate of total employment increases by 100,000
from one month to the next.  The 90-percent confidence interval on the
monthly change would range from -250,000 to 450,000 (100,000 +/- 350,000).
These figures do not mean that the sample results are off by these
magnitudes, but rather that there is about a 90-percent chance that the
"true" over-the-month change lies within this interval.  Since this range
includes values of less than zero, we could not say with confidence that
employment had, in fact, increased.  If, however, the reported employment
rise was half a million, then all of the values within the 90-percent
confidence interval would be greater than zero.  In this case, it is likely
(at least a 90-percent chance) that an employment rise had, in fact, oc-
curred.  At an unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent, the 90-percent con-
fidence interval for the monthly change in unemployment is about +/- 320,000, 
and for the monthly change in the unemployment rate it is about +/- .22 
percentage point.
 
   In general, estimates involving many individuals or establishments have
lower standard errors (relative to the size of the estimate) than estimates
which are based on a small number of observations.  The precision of
estimates is also improved when the data are cumulated over time such as
for quarterly and annual averages.  The seasonal adjustment process can
also improve the stability of the monthly estimates.
 
                                  - 10 -
 
   The household and establishment surveys are also affected by nonsampling
error.  Nonsampling errors can occur for many reasons, including the
failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain
information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness
of respondents to provide correct information on a timely basis, mistakes
made by respondents, and errors made in the collection or processing of the
data.
 
   For example, in the establishment survey, estimates for the most recent 
2 months are based on substantially incomplete returns; for this reason,
these estimates are labeled preliminary in the tables.  It is only after
two successive revisions to a monthly estimate, when nearly all sample
reports have been received, that the estimate is considered final.
   
   Another major source of nonsampling error in the establishment survey is
the inability to capture, on a timely basis, employment generated by new
firms.  To correct for this systematic underestimation of employment growth, 
an estimation procedure with two components is used to account for business
births.  The first component uses business deaths to impute employment for
business births.  This is incorporated into the sample-based link relative
estimate procedure by simply not reflecting sample units going out of busi-
ness, but imputing to them the same trend as the other firms in the sample.  
The second component is an ARIMA time series model designed to estimate the 
residual net birth/death employment not accounted for by the imputation.  
The historical time series used to create and test the ARIMA model was de-
rived from the unemployment insurance universe micro-level database, and 
reflects the actual residual net of births and deaths over the past five 
years.
 
   The sample-based estimates from the establishment survey are adjusted
once a year (on a lagged basis) to universe counts of payroll employment
obtained from administrative records of the unemployment insurance program.
The difference between the March sample-based employment estimates and the
March universe counts is known as a benchmark revision, and serves as a
rough proxy for total survey error.  The new benchmarks also incorporate
changes in the classification of industries.  Over the past decade, the
benchmark revision for total nonfarm employment has averaged 0.3 percent,
ranging from zero to 0.7 percent.

Additional statistics and other information
 
   More comprehensive statistics are contained in Employment and Earnings,
published each month by BLS.  It is available for $27.00 per issue or
$53.00 per year from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
20402.  All orders must be prepaid by sending a check or money order
payable to the Superintendent of Documents, or by charging to Mastercard 
or Visa.
 
   Employment and Earnings also provides measures of sampling error for
the household and establishment survey data published in this release.  
For unemployment and other labor force categories, these measures appear 
in tables 1-B through 1-D of its "Explanatory Notes."  For the establish-
ment survey data, the sampling error measures and the actual size of re-
visions due to benchmark adjustments appear in tables 2-B through 2-F of 
Employment and Earnings.

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message referral
phone:  1-800-877-8339.
 
 
 
 
  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                              HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-1.  Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                     Not seasonally adjusted             Seasonally adjusted (1)            
                                                                                                                            
           Employment status, sex, and age                                                                                  
                                                                                                                            
                                                       Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                       2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                        TOTAL                                                                                               
                                                                                                                            
  Civilian noninstitutional population.............. 222,509 224,422 224,640 222,509 223,677 223,941 224,192 224,422 224,640
    Civilian labor force............................ 146,501 148,246 147,877 146,808 147,676 147,531 147,893 148,313 148,203
          Participation rate........................    65.8    66.1    65.8    66.0    66.0    65.9    66.0    66.1    66.0
      Employed...................................... 138,556 140,581 140,278 138,409 139,658 139,527 139,827 140,293 140,156
          Employment-population ratio...............    62.3    62.6    62.4    62.2    62.4    62.3    62.4    62.5    62.4
      Unemployed....................................   7,945   7,665   7,599   8,399   8,018   8,005   8,066   8,020   8,047
          Unemployment rate.........................     5.4     5.2     5.1     5.7     5.4     5.4     5.5     5.4     5.4
    Not in labor force..............................  76,007  76,176  76,763  75,701  76,001  76,410  76,299  76,109  76,437
      Persons who currently want a job..............   4,355   4,755   4,607   4,730   4,908   4,903   5,338   5,087   5,021
                                                                                                                            
                Men, 16 years and over                                                                                      
                                                                                                                            
  Civilian noninstitutional population.............. 107,123 108,276 108,392 107,123 107,881 108,020 108,153 108,276 108,392
    Civilian labor force............................  78,413  79,455  79,093  78,710  79,253  79,041  79,290  79,602  79,412
          Participation rate........................    73.2    73.4    73.0    73.5    73.5    73.2    73.3    73.5    73.3
      Employed......................................  73,901  75,232  74,707  74,122  74,824  74,629  74,852  75,188  74,938
          Employment-population ratio...............    69.0    69.5    68.9    69.2    69.4    69.1    69.2    69.4    69.1
      Unemployed....................................   4,512   4,224   4,385   4,587   4,429   4,413   4,438   4,414   4,474
          Unemployment rate.........................     5.8     5.3     5.5     5.8     5.6     5.6     5.6     5.5     5.6
    Not in labor force..............................  28,710  28,820  29,300  28,413  28,628  28,979  28,863  28,674  28,981
                                                                                                                            
                Men, 20 years and over                                                                                      
                                                                                                                            
  Civilian noninstitutional population..............  98,927 100,017 100,126  98,927  99,642  99,776  99,904 100,017 100,126
    Civilian labor force............................  74,984  75,857  75,625  75,103  75,615  75,462  75,632  75,866  75,754
          Participation rate........................    75.8    75.8    75.5    75.9    75.9    75.6    75.7    75.9    75.7
      Employed......................................  71,024  72,273  71,897  71,135  71,847  71,701  71,895  72,134  72,020
          Employment-population ratio...............    71.8    72.3    71.8    71.9    72.1    71.9    72.0    72.1    71.9
      Unemployed....................................   3,960   3,584   3,727   3,968   3,768   3,761   3,736   3,733   3,733
          Unemployment rate.........................     5.3     4.7     4.9     5.3     5.0     5.0     4.9     4.9     4.9
    Not in labor force..............................  23,943  24,160  24,501  23,824  24,026  24,314  24,272  24,151  24,372
                                                                                                                            
               Women, 16 years and over                                                                                     
                                                                                                                            
  Civilian noninstitutional population.............. 115,386 116,146 116,247 115,386 115,796 115,921 116,039 116,146 116,247
    Civilian labor force............................  68,089  68,791  68,785  68,098  68,423  68,490  68,603  68,711  68,791
          Participation rate........................    59.0    59.2    59.2    59.0    59.1    59.1    59.1    59.2    59.2
      Employed......................................  64,656  65,349  65,571  64,286  64,834  64,898  64,975  65,104  65,218
          Employment-population ratio...............    56.0    56.3    56.4    55.7    56.0    56.0    56.0    56.1    56.1
      Unemployed....................................   3,433   3,441   3,214   3,811   3,589   3,592   3,628   3,606   3,573
          Unemployment rate.........................     5.0     5.0     4.7     5.6     5.2     5.2     5.3     5.2     5.2
    Not in labor force..............................  47,298  47,356  47,463  47,288  47,373  47,431  47,436  47,436  47,456
                                                                                                                            
               Women, 20 years and over                                                                                     
                                                                                                                            
  Civilian noninstitutional population.............. 107,404 108,129 108,221 107,404 107,801 107,920 108,032 108,129 108,221
    Civilian labor force............................  64,855  65,446  65,383  64,743  64,909  65,008  65,126  65,244  65,260
          Participation rate........................    60.4    60.5    60.4    60.3    60.2    60.2    60.3    60.3    60.3
      Employed......................................  61,823  62,492  62,581  61,437  61,877  61,939  62,024  62,145  62,208
          Employment-population ratio...............    57.6    57.8    57.8    57.2    57.4    57.4    57.4    57.5    57.5
      Unemployed....................................   3,031   2,954   2,802   3,306   3,032   3,069   3,102   3,099   3,051
          Unemployment rate.........................     4.7     4.5     4.3     5.1     4.7     4.7     4.8     4.7     4.7
    Not in labor force..............................  42,550  42,683  42,838  42,661  42,892  42,912  42,906  42,885  42,961
                                                                                                                            
              Both sexes, 16 to 19 years                                                                                    
                                                                                                                            
  Civilian noninstitutional population..............  16,178  16,275  16,293  16,178  16,234  16,246  16,257  16,275  16,293
    Civilian labor force............................   6,663   6,943   6,870   6,961   7,152   7,062   7,135   7,202   7,189
          Participation rate........................    41.2    42.7    42.2    43.0    44.1    43.5    43.9    44.2    44.1
      Employed......................................   5,709   5,816   5,800   5,836   5,934   5,887   5,908   6,014   5,927
          Employment-population ratio...............    35.3    35.7    35.6    36.1    36.6    36.2    36.3    36.9    36.4
      Unemployed....................................     954   1,127   1,070   1,125   1,217   1,175   1,227   1,188   1,262
          Unemployment rate.........................    14.3    16.2    15.6    16.2    17.0    16.6    17.2    16.5    17.6
    Not in labor force..............................   9,515   9,333   9,423   9,216   9,082   9,184   9,122   9,074   9,104

    1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted
  and seasonally adjusted columns.
    NOTE:  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally
  adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.




    
  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                              HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-2.  Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                     Not seasonally adjusted             Seasonally adjusted (1)            
                                                                                                                            
        Employment status, race, sex, and age                                                                               
                                                       Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                       2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                        WHITE                                                                                               
  Civilian noninstitutional population.............. 182,185 183,340 183,483 182,185 182,846 183,022 183,188 183,340 183,483
    Civilian labor force............................ 120,453 121,590 121,257 120,703 121,278 120,995 121,273 121,606 121,509
        Participation rate..........................    66.1    66.3    66.1    66.3    66.3    66.1    66.2    66.3    66.2
      Employed...................................... 114,702 116,247 115,978 114,626 115,526 115,318 115,618 115,966 115,910
        Employment-population ratio.................    63.0    63.4    63.2    62.9    63.2    63.0    63.1    63.3    63.2
      Unemployed....................................   5,751   5,342   5,279   6,077   5,752   5,677   5,655   5,640   5,600
        Unemployment rate...........................     4.8     4.4     4.4     5.0     4.7     4.7     4.7     4.6     4.6
    Not in labor force..............................  61,732  61,751  62,226  61,482  61,568  62,027  61,915  61,735  61,973
                                                                                                                            
                Men, 20 years and over                                                                                      
    Civilian labor force............................  62,656  63,264  63,110  62,738  63,115  62,859  63,092  63,225  63,199
        Participation rate..........................    76.1    76.2    76.0    76.2    76.3    75.9    76.1    76.2    76.1
      Employed......................................  59,680  60,742  60,466  59,780  60,368  60,149  60,415  60,565  60,570
        Employment-population ratio.................    72.5    73.2    72.8    72.6    73.0    72.6    72.9    73.0    72.9
      Unemployed....................................   2,975   2,522   2,645   2,958   2,747   2,710   2,678   2,660   2,629
        Unemployment rate...........................     4.7     4.0     4.2     4.7     4.4     4.3     4.2     4.2     4.2
                                                                                                                            
               Women, 20 years and over                                                                                     
    Civilian labor force............................  52,227  52,587  52,459  52,168  52,214  52,243  52,270  52,443  52,385
        Participation rate..........................    59.8    59.9    59.8    59.8    59.7    59.6    59.6    59.8    59.7
      Employed......................................  50,186  50,585  50,625  49,901  50,126  50,141  50,186  50,318  50,344
        Employment-population ratio.................    57.5    57.7    57.7    57.2    57.3    57.2    57.2    57.4    57.3
      Unemployed....................................   2,040   2,002   1,834   2,267   2,088   2,102   2,084   2,125   2,040
        Unemployment rate...........................     3.9     3.8     3.5     4.3     4.0     4.0     4.0     4.1     3.9
                                                                                                                            
              Both sexes, 16 to 19 years                                                                                    
    Civilian labor force............................   5,571   5,738   5,688   5,796   5,949   5,893   5,911   5,938   5,926
        Participation rate..........................    44.3    45.5    45.0    46.1    47.2    46.7    46.9    47.0    46.9
      Employed......................................   4,835   4,920   4,887   4,944   5,032   5,028   5,017   5,083   4,995
        Employment-population ratio.................    38.4    39.0    38.7    39.3    39.9    39.9    39.8    40.3    39.5
      Unemployed....................................     736     818     801     852     917     865     894     855     931
        Unemployment rate...........................    13.2    14.3    14.1    14.7    15.4    14.7    15.1    14.4    15.7
                                                                                                                            
              BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN                                                                                     
  Civilian noninstitutional population..............  25,894  26,239  26,273  25,894  26,120  26,163  26,204  26,239  26,273
    Civilian labor force............................  16,422  16,814  16,773  16,362  16,721  16,711  16,820  16,728  16,713
        Participation rate..........................    63.4    64.1    63.8    63.2    64.0    63.9    64.2    63.8    63.6
      Employed......................................  14,828  15,029  15,033  14,697  14,972  14,981  15,012  14,913  14,907
        Employment-population ratio.................    57.3    57.3    57.2    56.8    57.3    57.3    57.3    56.8    56.7
      Unemployed....................................   1,594   1,784   1,739   1,665   1,749   1,730   1,808   1,814   1,806
        Unemployment rate...........................     9.7    10.6    10.4    10.2    10.5    10.4    10.7    10.8    10.8
    Not in labor force..............................   9,472   9,425   9,500   9,532   9,399   9,452   9,384   9,512   9,559
                                                                                                                            
                Men, 20 years and over                                                                                      
    Civilian labor force............................   7,422   7,544   7,507   7,386   7,439   7,470   7,490   7,485   7,473
        Participation rate..........................    71.6    71.6    71.1    71.2    70.9    71.1    71.2    71.0    70.8
      Employed......................................   6,718   6,757   6,696   6,699   6,665   6,707   6,722   6,697   6,677
        Employment-population ratio.................    64.8    64.1    63.4    64.6    63.6    63.8    63.9    63.5    63.3
      Unemployed....................................     704     788     811     687     774     763     768     788     796
        Unemployment rate...........................     9.5    10.4    10.8     9.3    10.4    10.2    10.2    10.5    10.7
                                                                                                                            
               Women, 20 years and over                                                                                     
    Civilian labor force............................   8,325   8,471   8,532   8,271   8,483   8,504   8,513   8,438   8,477
        Participation rate..........................    63.4    63.9    64.3    63.0    64.2    64.3    64.3    63.6    63.9
      Employed......................................   7,595   7,719   7,804   7,487   7,743   7,747   7,756   7,675   7,702
        Employment-population ratio.................    57.9    58.2    58.8    57.1    58.6    58.6    58.6    57.9    58.0
      Unemployed....................................     730     752     727     784     740     757     757     763     775
        Unemployment rate...........................     8.8     8.9     8.5     9.5     8.7     8.9     8.9     9.0     9.1
                                                                                                                            
              Both sexes, 16 to 19 years                                                                                    
    Civilian labor force............................     675     799     734     706     799     737     818     804     763
        Participation rate..........................    28.1    32.7    30.0    29.4    32.9    30.3    33.6    33.0    31.2
      Employed......................................     514     554     533     511     564     526     534     542     528
        Employment-population ratio.................    21.4    22.7    21.8    21.3    23.2    21.6    21.9    22.2    21.6
      Unemployed....................................     161     244     201     195     235     211     283     263     235
        Unemployment rate...........................    23.8    30.6    27.4    27.6    29.4    28.6    34.7    32.7    30.8
                                                                                                                            
                        ASIAN                                                                                               
  Civilian noninstutional population................   9,372   9,655   9,658   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
    Civilian labor force............................   6,272   6,416   6,394   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Participation rate..........................    66.9    66.5    66.2   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Employed......................................   5,938   6,149   6,130   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Employment-population ratio.................    63.4    63.7    63.5   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Unemployed....................................     334     267     264   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Unemployment rate...........................     5.3     4.2     4.1   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
    Not in labor force..............................   3,101   3,239   3,264   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  

    1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted
  and seasonally adjusted columns.
    2 Data not available.
    NOTE:  Estimates for the above race groups will not sum to totals shown in table A-1 because data are not presented for
  all races.  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally
  adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.





  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                              HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-3.  Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                     Not seasonally adjusted             Seasonally adjusted (1)            
                                                                                                                            
           Employment status, sex, and age                                                                                  
                                                       Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                       2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
             HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY                                                                                   
  Civilian noninstitutional population..............  28,116  28,520  28,608  28,116  28,243  28,338  28,431  28,520  28,608
    Civilian labor force............................  19,031  19,548  19,514  19,051  19,463  19,444  19,524  19,552  19,544
        Participation rate..........................    67.7    68.5    68.2    67.8    68.9    68.6    68.7    68.6    68.3
      Employed......................................  17,785  18,258  18,236  17,794  18,128  18,079  18,213  18,238  18,252
        Employment-population ratio.................    63.3    64.0    63.7    63.3    64.2    63.8    64.1    63.9    63.8
      Unemployed....................................   1,246   1,290   1,279   1,257   1,335   1,366   1,311   1,313   1,292
        Unemployment rate...........................     6.5     6.6     6.6     6.6     6.9     7.0     6.7     6.7     6.6
    Not in labor force..............................   9,085   8,972   9,094   9,065   8,780   8,894   8,907   8,968   9,064
                                                                                                                            
                Men, 20 years and over                                                                                      
    Civilian labor force............................  11,015  11,271  11,175   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Participation rate..........................    84.2    84.8    83.8   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Employed......................................  10,381  10,654  10,541   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Employment-population ratio.................    79.3    80.2    79.1   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Unemployed....................................     634     617     634   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Unemployment rate...........................     5.8     5.5     5.7   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
                                                                                                                            
               Women, 20 years and over                                                                                     
    Civilian labor force............................   7,126   7,264   7,312   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Participation rate..........................    57.2    57.7    57.9   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Employed......................................   6,666   6,765   6,827   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Employment-population ratio.................    53.5    53.7    54.0   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Unemployed....................................     459     498     485   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Unemployment rate...........................     6.4     6.9     6.6   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
                                                                                                                            
              Both sexes, 16 to 19 years                                                                                    
    Civilian labor force............................     890   1,013   1,028   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Participation rate..........................    34.6    38.4    38.9   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Employed......................................     738     839     868   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Employment-population ratio.................    28.7    31.8    32.8   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
      Unemployed....................................     152     174     160   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  
        Unemployment rate...........................    17.1    17.2    15.6   (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)     (2)  

    1 The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted
  and seasonally adjusted columns.
    2 Data not available.
    NOTE:  Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.  Beginning in January 2004, data
  reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect
  updated seasonal adjustment factors.


  
  
  
  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                               HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-4.  Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                             
                                               Not seasonally adjusted                   Seasonally adjusted                 
                                                                                                                             
            Educational attainment                                                                                           
                                                Dec.     Nov.     Dec.     Dec.     Aug.     Sept.    Oct.     Nov.     Dec.  
                                                2003     2004     2004     2003     2004     2004     2004     2004     2004  
                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                             
       Less than a high school diploma                                                                                       
  Civilian labor force......................   12,640   12,725   12,895   12,586   12,554   12,742   12,502   12,722   12,814
      Participation rate....................     44.6     45.3     45.3     44.4     45.6     45.3     45.0     45.3     45.0
    Employed................................   11,554   11,714   11,762   11,566   11,531   11,608   11,471   11,703   11,746
      Employment-population ratio...........     40.8     41.7     41.3     40.8     41.9     41.3     41.3     41.6     41.3
    Unemployed..............................    1,086    1,012    1,133    1,021    1,023    1,133    1,031    1,019    1,068
      Unemployment rate.....................      8.6      8.0      8.8      8.1      8.2      8.9      8.2      8.0      8.3
                                                                                                                             
    High school graduates, no college (1)                                                                                    
  Civilian labor force......................   38,170   37,809   37,842   37,997   38,002   37,700   37,712   37,630   37,695
      Participation rate....................     63.8     63.4     63.3     63.5     63.2     63.2     63.5     63.1     63.1
    Employed................................   36,131   36,034   36,035   35,911   36,129   35,894   35,874   35,788   35,846
      Employment-population ratio...........     60.4     60.4     60.3     60.1     60.1     60.2     60.4     60.0     60.0
    Unemployed..............................    2,039    1,776    1,808    2,086    1,873    1,806    1,838    1,842    1,849
      Unemployment rate.....................      5.3      4.7      4.8      5.5      4.9      4.8      4.9      4.9      4.9
                                                                                                                             
       Some college or associate degree                                                                                      
  Civilian labor force......................   34,101   34,509   34,391   34,125   34,499   34,431   34,548   34,549   34,483
      Participation rate....................     72.6     72.3     72.1     72.7     72.1     72.2     71.8     72.4     72.3
    Employed................................   32,658   33,062   32,968   32,617   33,096   33,037   33,112   33,051   32,995
      Employment-population ratio...........     69.5     69.3     69.1     69.4     69.1     69.3     68.8     69.3     69.2
    Unemployed..............................    1,443    1,447    1,423    1,508    1,404    1,394    1,435    1,498    1,487
      Unemployment rate.....................      4.2      4.2      4.1      4.4      4.1      4.0      4.2      4.3      4.3
                                                                                                                             
       Bachelor's degree and higher (2)                                                                                      
  Civilian labor force......................   40,206   41,139   40,835   40,408   40,219   40,471   40,772   41,131   41,026
      Participation rate....................     78.4     78.5     78.3     78.8     77.8     77.8     77.8     78.5     78.7
    Employed................................   39,078   40,156   39,894   39,188   39,152   39,438   39,744   40,090   40,009
      Employment-population ratio...........     76.2     76.6     76.5     76.4     75.7     75.8     75.8     76.5     76.7
    Unemployed..............................    1,128      982      941    1,219    1,068    1,033    1,027    1,041    1,018
      Unemployment rate.....................      2.8      2.4      2.3      3.0      2.7      2.6      2.5      2.5      2.5

    1 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
    2 Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees. 
    NOTE:  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally
  adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.
  
   
    
     
      
  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                     HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-5.  Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status

  (In thousands)
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   
                                            Not seasonally adjusted               Seasonally adjusted              
                                                                                                                   
                  Category                                                                                         
                                                                                                                   
                                              Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                              2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   
               CLASS OF WORKER                                                                                     
                                                                                                                   
  Agriculture and related industries.......   2,053   2,147   1,996   2,239   2,305   2,221   2,155   2,212   2,179
    Wage and salary workers................   1,168   1,173   1,061   1,298   1,265   1,213   1,194   1,204   1,185
    Self-employed workers..................     870     947     918     917   1,014     970     921     952     963
    Unpaid family workers..................      15      27      16   (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)  
                                                                                                                   
  Nonagricultural industries............... 136,503 138,434 138,282 136,172 137,321 137,460 137,764 138,068 137,973
    Wage and salary workers................ 126,984 128,699 128,783 126,639 127,628 127,829 128,035 128,431 128,459
      Government...........................  19,821  20,428  20,381  19,701  20,117  20,166  20,213  20,309  20,270
      Private industries................... 107,163 108,271 108,401 107,024 107,508 107,692 107,823 108,120 108,257
        Private households.................     780     779     789   (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)  
        Other industries................... 106,383 107,493 107,612 106,274 106,686 106,910 107,090 107,360 107,492
    Self-employed workers..................   9,412   9,668   9,420   9,472   9,630   9,481   9,702   9,505   9,473
    Unpaid family workers..................     107      66      80   (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)  
                                                                                                                   
        PERSONS AT WORK PART TIME (2)                                                                              
                                                                                                                   
  All industries:                                                                                                  
    Part time for economic reasons.........   4,833   4,398   4,516   4,782   4,509   4,476   4,762   4,533   4,474
      Slack work or business conditions....   3,327   2,716   2,851   3,197   2,816   2,805   3,052   2,761   2,735
      Could only find part-time work.......   1,182   1,381   1,304   1,305   1,403   1,312   1,385   1,420   1,440
    Part time for noneconomic reasons......  19,543  20,620  20,361  18,656  19,657  19,410  19,704  19,499  19,502
                                                                                                                   
  Nonagricultural industries:                                                                                      
    Part time for economic reasons.........   4,717   4,255   4,399   4,704   4,408   4,400   4,656   4,404   4,382
      Slack work or business conditions....   3,248   2,616   2,774   3,149   2,722   2,750   2,971   2,685   2,682
      Could only find part-time work.......   1,178   1,365   1,288   1,272   1,388   1,320   1,363   1,396   1,397
    Part time for noneconomic reasons......  19,246  20,259  19,962  18,416  19,204  19,061  19,288  19,141  19,176

    1 Data not available.
    2 Persons at work excludes employed persons who were absent from their jobs during the entire reference week
  for reasons such as vacation, illness, or industrial dispute.  Part time for noneconomic reasons excludes persons
  who usually work full time but worked only 1 to 34 hours during the reference week for reasons such as holidays,
  illness, and bad weather.
    NOTE:  Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not necessarily add to totals because
  of the independent seasonal adjustment of the various series.  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised
  population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated
  seasonal adjustment factors.


  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                              HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-6.  Selected employment indicators

  (In thousands)
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                     Not seasonally adjusted               Seasonally adjusted              
                                                                                                                            
                    Characteristic                                                                                          
                                                                                                                            
                                                       Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                       2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
  Total, 16 years and over.......................... 138,556 140,581 140,278 138,409 139,658 139,527 139,827 140,293 140,156
    16 to 19 years..................................   5,709   5,816   5,800   5,836   5,934   5,887   5,908   6,014   5,927
      16 to 17 years................................   2,175   2,188   2,168   2,274   2,121   2,149   2,189   2,240   2,261
      18 to 19 years................................   3,534   3,628   3,632   3,591   3,875   3,730   3,711   3,739   3,691
    20 years and over............................... 132,847 134,765 134,478 132,572 133,724 133,640 133,920 134,279 134,229
      20 to 24 years................................  13,426  13,799  13,819  13,451  13,777  13,641  13,842  13,818  13,851
      25 years and over............................. 119,421 120,966 120,659 119,170 119,994 119,993 120,066 120,455 120,421
        25 to 54 years..............................  97,613  98,279  97,836  97,449  97,610  97,667  97,700  97,885  97,701
          25 to 34 years............................  30,384  30,675  30,509  30,369  30,496  30,508  30,432  30,495  30,504
          35 to 44 years............................  34,861  34,840  34,707  34,789  34,547  34,556  34,599  34,739  34,632
          45 to 54 years............................  32,368  32,763  32,620  32,292  32,568  32,604  32,669  32,651  32,566
        55 years and over...........................  21,808  22,687  22,823  21,721  22,384  22,326  22,366  22,571  22,719
                                                                                                                            
  Men, 16 years and over............................  73,901  75,232  74,707  74,122  74,824  74,629  74,852  75,188  74,938
    16 to 19 years..................................   2,877   2,958   2,810   2,987   2,977   2,927   2,957   3,055   2,917
      16 to 17 years................................   1,072   1,089     992   1,136   1,018   1,040   1,072   1,117   1,049
      18 to 19 years................................   1,805   1,869   1,818   1,847   2,016   1,874   1,879   1,914   1,862
    20 years and over...............................  71,024  72,273  71,897  71,135  71,847  71,701  71,895  72,134  72,020
      20 to 24 years................................   6,993   7,249   7,274   7,067   7,284   7,151   7,307   7,295   7,354
      25 years and over.............................  64,031  65,024  64,623  64,110  64,591  64,497  64,592  64,823  64,704
        25 to 54 years..............................  52,386  52,830  52,464  52,476  52,564  52,553  52,582  52,695  52,563
          25 to 34 years............................  16,748  16,945  16,785  16,774  16,946  16,917  16,900  16,851  16,818
          35 to 44 years............................  18,825  18,839  18,697  18,849  18,641  18,639  18,649  18,799  18,719
          45 to 54 years............................  16,813  17,046  16,983  16,853  16,977  16,998  17,033  17,045  17,026
        55 years and over...........................  11,645  12,194  12,159  11,634  12,026  11,943  12,010  12,128  12,141
                                                                                                                            
  Women, 16 years and over..........................  64,656  65,349  65,571  64,286  64,834  64,898  64,975  65,104  65,218
    16 to 19 years..................................   2,833   2,858   2,990   2,849   2,957   2,959   2,951   2,959   3,010
      16 to 17 years................................   1,103   1,099   1,176   1,138   1,103   1,109   1,118   1,123   1,212
      18 to 19 years................................   1,729   1,759   1,814   1,744   1,859   1,856   1,831   1,826   1,830
    20 years and over...............................  61,823  62,492  62,581  61,437  61,877  61,939  62,024  62,145  62,208
      20 to 24 years................................   6,434   6,550   6,545   6,384   6,493   6,490   6,535   6,523   6,497
      25 years and over.............................  55,390  55,942  56,036  55,060  55,404  55,497  55,474  55,633  55,716
        25 to 54 years..............................  45,227  45,449  45,372  44,973  45,046  45,114  45,118  45,190  45,138
          25 to 34 years............................  13,636  13,730  13,724  13,595  13,550  13,591  13,532  13,644  13,686
          35 to 44 years............................  16,036  16,001  16,011  15,939  15,906  15,917  15,950  15,940  15,912
          45 to 54 years............................  15,554  15,718  15,637  15,439  15,591  15,606  15,636  15,606  15,540
        55 years and over...........................  10,163  10,493  10,664  10,086  10,358  10,383  10,356  10,443  10,578
                                                                                                                            
  Married men, spouse present.......................  45,562  45,631  45,499  45,383  45,099  45,093  45,127  45,462  45,315
  Married women, spouse present.....................  35,217  35,319  35,213  34,897  34,494  34,704  34,808  34,961  34,878
  Women who maintain families.......................   8,501   8,710   8,884   (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)  
                                                                                                                            
  Full-time workers (2)............................. 113,942 115,000 115,117 114,443 114,775 114,831 114,954 115,415 115,585
  Part-time workers (3).............................  24,614  25,581  25,161  24,137  25,047  24,729  24,931  24,940  24,728

    1 Data not available.
    2 Employed full-time workers are persons who usually work 35 hours or more per week.
    3 Employed part-time workers are persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week.
    NOTE:  Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not necessarily add to totals because of the
  independent seasonal adjustment of the various series.  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population
  controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment
  factors.





  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                              HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-7.  Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                            Number of                                                       
                                                        unemployed persons                Unemployment rates (1)            
                                                          (in thousands)                                                    
                    Characteristic                                                                                          
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                       Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                       2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
  Total, 16 years and over..........................   8,399   8,020   8,047    5.7     5.4     5.4     5.5     5.4     5.4 
    16 to 19 years..................................   1,125   1,188   1,262   16.2    17.0    16.6    17.2    16.5    17.6 
      16 to 17 years................................     515     603     587   18.5    20.7    19.6    20.6    21.2    20.6 
      18 to 19 years................................     608     585     674   14.5    14.9    14.9    15.2    13.5    15.4 
    20 years and over...............................   7,274   6,832   6,785    5.2     4.8     4.9     4.9     4.8     4.8 
      20 to 24 years................................   1,426   1,398   1,360    9.6     9.0     9.5     9.8     9.2     8.9 
      25 years and over.............................   5,795   5,409   5,391    4.6     4.3     4.3     4.3     4.3     4.3 
        25 to 54 years..............................   4,962   4,545   4,597    4.8     4.4     4.4     4.4     4.4     4.5 
          25 to 34 years............................   1,893   1,811   1,813    5.9     5.4     5.2     5.5     5.6     5.6 
          35 to 44 years............................   1,743   1,457   1,456    4.8     4.4     4.4     4.1     4.0     4.0 
          45 to 54 years............................   1,327   1,276   1,328    3.9     3.6     3.6     3.6     3.8     3.9 
        55 years and over...........................     877     869     825    3.9     3.7     3.7     3.8     3.7     3.5 
                                                                                                                            
  Men, 16 years and over............................   4,587   4,414   4,474    5.8     5.6     5.6     5.6     5.5     5.6 
    16 to 19 years..................................     620     681     741   17.2    18.1    18.2    19.2    18.2    20.3 
      16 to 17 years................................     255     334     336   18.3    21.9    20.6    22.1    23.0    24.3 
      18 to 19 years................................     362     333     403   16.4    16.1    16.8    17.7    14.8    17.8 
    20 years and over...............................   3,968   3,733   3,733    5.3     5.0     5.0     4.9     4.9     4.9 
      20 to 24 years................................     816     791     728   10.4    10.0    10.5    10.2     9.8     9.0 
      25 years and over.............................   3,114   2,919   2,969    4.6     4.4     4.3     4.3     4.3     4.4 
        25 to 54 years..............................   2,642   2,449   2,531    4.8     4.5     4.4     4.4     4.4     4.6 
          25 to 34 years............................   1,032     960   1,024    5.8     5.2     5.2     5.2     5.4     5.7 
          35 to 44 years............................     911     804     792    4.6     4.3     4.4     4.0     4.1     4.1 
          45 to 54 years............................     699     686     716    4.0     3.8     3.8     3.9     3.9     4.0 
        55 years and over...........................     472     470     438    3.9     4.0     3.9     4.1     3.7     3.5 
                                                                                                                            
  Women, 16 years and over..........................   3,811   3,606   3,573    5.6     5.2     5.2     5.3     5.2     5.2 
    16 to 19 years..................................     505     507     522   15.1    15.9    15.0    15.1    14.6    14.8 
      16 to 17 years................................     260     269     251   18.6    19.7    18.6    19.0    19.3    17.2 
      18 to 19 years................................     246     252     271   12.4    13.5    12.8    12.5    12.1    12.9 
    20 years and over...............................   3,306   3,099   3,051    5.1     4.7     4.7     4.8     4.7     4.7 
      20 to 24 years................................     610     607     632    8.7     7.9     8.4     9.4     8.5     8.9 
      25 years and over.............................   2,681   2,490   2,422    4.6     4.3     4.3     4.2     4.3     4.2 
        25 to 54 years..............................   2,320   2,096   2,066    4.9     4.4     4.4     4.4     4.4     4.4 
          25 to 34 years............................     861     851     789    6.0     5.5     5.2     5.8     5.9     5.5 
          35 to 44 years............................     831     654     664    5.0     4.5     4.5     4.1     3.9     4.0 
          45 to 54 years............................     628     590     613    3.9     3.4     3.5     3.3     3.6     3.8 
        55 years and over (2).......................     367     390     350    3.5     3.9     3.5     3.3     3.6     3.2 
                                                                                                                            
  Married men, spouse present.......................   1,578   1,432   1,434    3.4     3.1     3.0     3.0     3.1     3.1 
  Married women, spouse present.....................   1,384   1,236   1,227    3.8     3.5     3.1     3.1     3.4     3.4 
  Women who maintain families (2)...................     779     722     675    8.4     8.3     8.2     7.8     7.7     7.1 
                                                                                                                            
  Full-time workers (3).............................   7,048   6,570   6,637    5.8     5.5     5.5     5.4     5.4     5.4 
  Part-time workers (4).............................   1,354   1,432   1,417    5.3     5.2     5.0     5.5     5.4     5.4 

    1 Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.
    2 Not seasonally adjusted.
    3 Full-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to work full time (35 hours or more per week) or
  are on layoff from full-time jobs.
    4 Part-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to work part time (less than 35 hours per week)
  or are on layoff from part-time jobs.
    NOTE:  Detail shown in this table will not necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of
  the various series.  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. 
  Data have been revised to reflect update seasonal adjustment factors.




   
  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                              HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-8.  Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                     Not seasonally adjusted               Seasonally adjusted              
                                                                                                                            
                        Reason                                                                                              
                                                                                                                            
                                                       Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                       2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                 NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED                                                                                       
                                                                                                                            
  Job losers and persons who completed temporary                                                                            
     jobs...........................................   4,629   3,898   4,166   4,569   3,978   4,014   4,074   4,066   4,108
    On temporary layoff.............................   1,137     797   1,040   1,054     971     919     947     941     965
    Not on temporary layoff.........................   3,492   3,101   3,126   3,516   3,007   3,094   3,127   3,124   3,144
      Permanent job losers..........................   2,681   2,296   2,272   (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)  
      Persons who completed temporary jobs..........     811     806     854   (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)     (1)  
  Job leavers.......................................     715     847     845     759     885     830     829     880     898
  Reentrants........................................   2,065   2,265   2,040   2,387   2,440   2,417   2,411   2,388   2,361
  New entrants......................................     536     655     548     696     699     697     747     723     709
                                                                                                                            
                 PERCENT DISTRIBUTION                                                                                       
                                                                                                                            
  Total unemployed..................................   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0
   Job losers and persons who completed temporary                                                                           
     jobs...........................................    58.3    50.9    54.8    54.3    49.7    50.4    50.5    50.5    50.9
     On temporary layoff............................    14.3    10.4    13.7    12.5    12.1    11.6    11.8    11.7    11.9
     Not on temporary layoff........................    44.0    40.5    41.1    41.8    37.6    38.9    38.8    38.8    38.9
   Job leavers......................................     9.0    11.0    11.1     9.0    11.1    10.4    10.3    10.9    11.1
   Reentrants.......................................    26.0    29.5    26.8    28.4    30.5    30.4    29.9    29.6    29.2
   New entrants.....................................     6.8     8.6     7.2     8.3     8.7     8.8     9.3     9.0     8.8
                                                                                                                            
            UNEMPLOYED AS A PERCENT OF THE                                                                                  
                   CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE                                                                                     
                                                                                                                            
   Job losers and persons who completed temporary                                                                           
     jobs...........................................     3.2     2.6     2.8     3.1     2.7     2.7     2.8     2.7     2.8
   Job leavers......................................      .5      .6      .6      .5      .6      .6      .6      .6      .6
   Reentrants.......................................     1.4     1.5     1.4     1.6     1.7     1.6     1.6     1.6     1.6
   New entrants.....................................      .4      .4      .4      .5      .5      .5      .5      .5      .5

    1 Data not available.
    NOTE:  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally
  adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.






  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                              HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-9.  Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                                                     Not seasonally adjusted               Seasonally adjusted              
                                                                                                                            
                       Duration                                                                                             
                                                                                                                            
                                                       Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                       2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            
                 NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED                                                                                       
                                                                                                                            
  Less than 5 weeks.................................   2,298   2,467   2,546   2,595   2,605   2,796   2,753   2,611   2,865
  5 to 14 weeks.....................................   2,439   2,353   2,244   2,453   2,521   2,251   2,290   2,361   2,264
  15 weeks and over.................................   3,208   2,844   2,809   3,389   2,924   2,971   3,032   3,012   2,961
     15 to 26 weeks.................................   1,343   1,173   1,202   1,496   1,243   1,227   1,261   1,294   1,325
     27 weeks and over..............................   1,865   1,671   1,608   1,893   1,681   1,744   1,771   1,718   1,636
                                                                                                                            
  Average (mean) duration, in weeks.................    20.0    20.0    19.5    19.8    19.2    19.6    19.7    19.8    19.3
  Median duration, in weeks.........................    10.6     9.7     9.6    10.4     9.5     9.5     9.5     9.8     9.5
                                                                                                                            
                 PERCENT DISTRIBUTION                                                                                       
                                                                                                                            
  Total unemployed..................................   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0
    Less than 5 weeks...............................    28.9    32.2    33.5    30.8    32.4    34.9    34.1    32.7    35.4
    5 to 14 weeks...................................    30.7    30.7    29.5    29.1    31.3    28.1    28.4    29.6    28.0
    15 weeks and over...............................    40.4    37.1    37.0    40.2    36.3    37.1    37.5    37.7    36.6
      15 to 26 weeks................................    16.9    15.3    15.8    17.7    15.4    15.3    15.6    16.2    16.4
      27 weeks and over.............................    23.5    21.8    21.2    22.4    20.9    21.7    21.9    21.5    20.2

   NOTE:  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally
  adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.






  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                                       HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-10.  Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     Unemployment    
                                                                           Employed             Unemployed              rates        
                                                                                                                                     
                             Occupation                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                       Dec.       Dec.        Dec.       Dec.        Dec.       Dec.   
                                                                       2003       2004        2003       2004        2003       2004   
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                     
       Total, 16 years and over (1)................................   138,556    140,278      7,945      7,599        5.4        5.1 
  Management, professional, and related occupations................    48,320     49,184      1,380      1,281        2.8        2.5 
    Management, business, and financial operations occupations.....    19,887     20,170        589        567        2.9        2.7 
    Professional and related occupations...........................    28,432     29,014        791        713        2.7        2.4 
  Service occupations..............................................    21,633     22,907      1,560      1,440        6.7        5.9 
  Sales and office occupations.....................................    35,770     35,511      1,835      1,632        4.9        4.4 
    Sales and related occupations..................................    16,543     15,930        909        770        5.2        4.6 
    Office and administrative support occupations..................    19,227     19,581        926        862        4.6        4.2 
  Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.....    14,347     14,649      1,208      1,279        7.8        8.0 
    Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations.....................       907        845        164        183       15.3       17.8 
    Construction and extraction occupations........................     8,272      8,517        766        880        8.5        9.4 
    Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations..............     5,168      5,287        279        217        5.1        3.9 
  Production, transportation, and material moving occupations......    18,486     18,027      1,396      1,368        7.0        7.1 
    Production occupations.........................................     9,820      9,411        690        708        6.6        7.0 
    Transportation and material moving occupations.................     8,666      8,616        706        660        7.5        7.1 

    1 Persons with no previous work experience and persons whose last job was in the Armed Forces are included in the unemployed
  total.
    NOTE:  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.





  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                                      HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-11.  Unemployed persons by industry, not seasonally adjusted
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                    Number of                                                       
                                                                    unemployed                             Unemployment             
                                                                     persons                                  rates                 
                       Industry                                   (in thousands)                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                             Dec.                Dec.                 Dec.                Dec.       
                                                             2003                2004                 2003                2004       
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
         Total, 16 years and over (1)...............         7,945               7,599                 5.4                 5.1      
  Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers...         6,456               6,045                 5.7                 5.3      
    Mining..........................................            32                  16                 5.6                 2.5      
    Construction....................................           813                 870                 9.3                 9.5      
    Manufacturing...................................         1,025                 872                 5.9                 5.1      
      Durable goods.................................           647                 529                 5.9                 4.9      
      Nondurable goods..............................           378                 344                 5.8                 5.5      
    Wholesale and retail trade......................         1,081               1,058                 5.0                 5.0      
    Transportation and utilities....................           267                 204                 5.0                 3.8      
    Information.....................................           224                 173                 6.5                 5.7      
    Financial activities............................           283                 290                 3.0                 3.1      
    Professional and business services..............           948                 875                 7.6                 6.9      
    Education and health services...................           620                 562                 3.5                 3.1      
    Leisure and hospitality.........................           885                 850                 8.2                 7.4      
    Other services..................................           278                 276                 4.5                 4.3      
  Agriculture and related private wage and salary                                                                                   
     workers........................................           137                 165                10.9                14.0      
  Government workers................................           516                 499                 2.5                 2.4      
  Self employed and unpaid family workers...........           299                 341                 2.8                 3.2      

    1 Persons with no previous work experience are included in the unemployed total.
    NOTE:  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.
 




  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                                        HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-12.  Alternative measures of labor underutilization

  (Percent)
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                      
                                                               Not seasonally adjusted               Seasonally adjusted              
                                                                                                                                      
                            Measure                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                 Dec.    Nov.    Dec.    Dec.    Aug.    Sept.   Oct.    Nov.    Dec. 
                                                                 2003    2004    2004    2003    2004    2004    2004    2004    2004 
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                      
  U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of                                                                          
     the civilian labor force.................................    2.2     1.9     1.9     2.3     2.0     2.0     2.1     2.0     2.0 
                                                                                                                                      
  U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as                                                                         
     a percent of the civilian labor force....................    3.2     2.6     2.8     3.1     2.7     2.7     2.8     2.7     2.8 
                                                                                                                                      
  U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor                                                                            
     force (official unemployment rate).......................    5.4     5.2     5.1     5.7     5.4     5.4     5.5     5.4     5.4 
                                                                                                                                      
  U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent                                                                         
     of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers.....    5.7     5.4     5.4     6.0     5.8     5.7     5.7     5.7     5.7 
                                                                                                                                      
  U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all                                                                            
     other marginally attached workers, as a percent of the                                                                           
     civilian labor force plus all marginally attached                                                                                
     workers..................................................    6.4     6.1     6.1     6.7     6.4     6.4     6.5     6.4     6.4 
                                                                                                                                      
  U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers,                                                                         
     plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a                                                                         
     percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally                                                                          
     attached workers.........................................    9.6     9.1     9.1     9.9     9.5     9.4     9.7     9.4     9.3 

    NOTE:  Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want
  and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past.  Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally
  attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for a job.  Persons employed part time for economic
  reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule.  For further
  information, see "BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor
  Review.  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.  Seasonally adjusted data
  have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.




  
  HOUSEHOLD DATA                                                                                                  HOUSEHOLD DATA
  
  Table A-13.  Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted

  (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
                                                                            Total                Men                Women       
                                                                                                                                
                               Category                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
                                                                        Dec.      Dec.      Dec.      Dec.      Dec.      Dec.  
                                                                        2003      2004      2003      2004      2003      2004  
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
                        NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
  Total not in the labor force......................................   76,007    76,763    28,710    29,300    47,298    47,463 
    Persons who currently want a job................................    4,355     4,607     1,858     2,138     2,496     2,469 
     Searched for work and available to work now (1)................    1,483     1,463       688       737       795       726 
          Reason not currently looking:                                                                                         
            Discouragement over job prospects (2)...................      433       442       212       265       221       177 
               Reasons other than discouragement (3)................    1,050     1,021       476       472       574       549 
                                                                                                                                
                         MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
  Total multiple jobholders (4).....................................    7,260     7,834     3,548     4,061     3,711     3,774 
      Percent of total employed.....................................      5.2       5.6       4.8       5.4       5.7       5.8 
                                                                                                                                
      Primary job full time, secondary job part time................    3,860     4,086     2,095     2,339     1,765     1,747 
      Primary and secondary jobs both part time.....................    1,618     1,757       478       552     1,141     1,205 
      Primary and secondary jobs both full time.....................      244       270       162       192        82        77 
      Hours vary on primary or secondary job........................    1,493     1,685       797       963       696       722 

    1 Data refer to persons who have searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available to take a job during the
  reference week.
    2 Includes thinks no work available, could not find work, lacks schooling or training, employer thinks too young or old, and
  other types of discrimination.
    3 Includes those who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as school or family responsibili-
  ties, ill health, and transportation problems, as well as a small number for which reason for nonparticipation was not
  determined.
    4 Includes persons who work part time on their primary job and full time on their secondary job(s), not shown separately.
    NOTE:  Beginning in January 2004, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey.




     
ESTABLISHMENT DATA                                                                                                ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-1.  Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail

(In thousands)


                                         Not seasonally adjusted                    Seasonally adjusted

                                                                                                                           Change
           Industry                Dec.     Oct.    Nov.     Dec.      Dec.     Aug.     Sept.    Oct.    Nov.     Dec.     from:
                                   2003     2004    2004p    2004p     2003     2004     2004     2004    2004p    2004p  Nov. 2004-
                                                                                                                          Dec. 2004p

          Total nonfarm......... 130,862  132,928  133,207  133,027  130,035  131,541  131,660  131,972  132,109  132,266      157

        Total private........... 108,967  110,934  111,060  110,940  108,491  109,912  110,008  110,297  110,422  110,550      128

    Goods-producing.............  21,609   22,259   22,153   21,937   21,668   21,939   21,958   22,016   22,017   22,030       13

Natural resources and mining....     570      601      600      597      570      591      593      592      595      598        3
   Logging......................    67.0     67.7     65.7     65.4     65.9     64.6     64.9     64.2     63.6     65.1      1.5
 Mining.........................   503.3    533.0    534.1    531.8    504.3    526.6    527.7    527.5    531.0    532.8      1.8
  Oil and gas extraction........   124.1    131.7    132.4    132.1    124.6    132.7    132.9    132.7    133.5    133.2      -.3
  Mining, except oil and gas(1).   200.5    212.6    213.4    208.9    202.0    209.2    209.4    209.0    210.7    210.6      -.1
   Coal mining..................    70.5     74.4     75.6     76.3     69.8     74.6     74.8     74.4     75.0     75.2       .2
  Support activities for mining.   178.7    188.7    188.3    190.8    177.7    184.7    185.4    185.8    186.8    189.0      2.2

Construction....................   6,699    7,221    7,140    6,933    6,774    6,936    6,958    7,018    7,025    7,032        7
  Construction of buildings..... 1,582.7  1,698.3  1,684.4  1,664.2  1,585.1  1,635.5  1,648.8  1,661.6  1,665.1  1,669.3      4.2
  Heavy and civil engineering
   construction.................   885.1    989.7    957.4    892.3    920.7    921.9    922.5    928.4    930.9    931.6       .7
  Specialty trade contractors... 4,231.1  4,532.6  4,498.3  4,376.9  4,268.4  4,378.9  4,386.8  4,427.5  4,428.8  4,430.6      1.8

Manufacturing...................  14,340   14,437   14,413   14,407   14,324   14,412   14,407   14,406   14,397   14,400        3
   Production workers...........  10,060   10,188   10,164   10,153   10,044   10,162   10,150   10,150   10,141   10,143        2

 Durable goods..................   8,882    8,991    8,991    8,991    8,868    8,986    8,979    8,985    8,979    8,979        0
   Production workers...........   6,094    6,199    6,196    6,191    6,079    6,195    6,184    6,188    6,180    6,182        2

  Wood products.................   534.2    553.1    549.2    546.3    536.6    545.9    544.8    549.7    548.5    550.3      1.8
  Nonmetallic mineral products..   483.5    510.4    507.2    498.7    487.5    501.6    503.2    503.0    502.9    502.7      -.2
  Primary metals................   465.6    463.2    464.0    465.8    464.6    465.4    464.1    464.5    464.6    464.3      -.3
  Fabricated metal products..... 1,473.5  1,511.7  1,510.2  1,510.1  1,471.2  1,504.7  1,505.8  1,508.5  1,507.5  1,508.0       .5
  Machinery..................... 1,143.0  1,156.7  1,160.8  1,165.5  1,140.4  1,163.3  1,161.7  1,161.4  1,162.0  1,162.0       .0
  Computer and electronic
   products(1).................. 1,335.0  1,347.6  1,344.4  1,345.5  1,332.2  1,353.0  1,350.7  1,348.6  1,344.6  1,342.8     -1.8
   Computer and peripheral
    equipment...................   218.0    214.4    213.8    215.5    217.8    217.9    217.1    215.6    214.4    215.4      1.0
   Communications equipment.....   153.5    159.0    158.7    158.4    153.0    158.5    158.1    158.0    158.6    158.7       .1
   Semiconductors and electronic
    components..................   452.0    456.6    454.8    452.9    451.3    460.2    459.4    457.2    455.2    452.2     -3.0
   Electronic instruments.......   425.8    434.5    434.0    436.0    425.3    433.0    433.1    435.4    434.1    434.5       .4
  Electrical equipment and
   appliances...................   452.1    446.3    447.6    446.3    451.2    449.6    449.1    447.3    447.8    445.5     -2.3
  Transportation equipment...... 1,772.0  1,775.5  1,778.1  1,783.4  1,762.7  1,774.4  1,771.7  1,774.3  1,772.3  1,774.1      1.8
  Furniture and related products   570.7    572.3    573.2    573.5    569.3    574.6    573.8    573.7    574.1    574.3       .2
  Miscellaneous manufacturing...   652.3    653.8    655.9    655.7    651.9    653.6    653.7    654.0    654.6    655.1       .5

 Nondurable goods...............   5,458    5,446    5,422    5,416    5,456    5,426    5,428    5,421    5,418    5,421        3
   Production workers...........   3,966    3,989    3,968    3,962    3,965    3,967    3,966    3,962    3,961    3,961        0

  Food manufacturing............ 1,513.2  1,527.4  1,512.9  1,515.8  1,506.3  1,499.6  1,502.5  1,504.5  1,506.5  1,512.9      6.4
  Beverages and tobacco products   196.8    199.2    200.5    195.8    198.3    197.2    198.5    197.0    199.8    197.4     -2.4
  Textile mills.................   239.7    232.8    231.0    228.3    241.0    234.4    233.8    233.0    231.2    230.4      -.8
  Textile product mills.........   173.8    178.7    178.5    178.6    174.3    179.4    179.6    180.1    180.0    180.2       .2
  Apparel.......................   295.1    278.7    273.4    269.6    297.7    284.2    282.7    277.4    273.5    272.5     -1.0
  Leather and allied products...    44.0     45.0     45.9     44.8     44.3     44.8     45.4     45.3     45.8     45.2      -.6
  Paper and paper products......   511.5    509.6    507.4    508.6    510.3    509.8    508.6    508.0    505.7    506.1       .4
  Printing and related support
   activities...................   672.4    661.1    660.7    664.3    670.1    662.2    660.3    660.6    660.3    661.7      1.4
  Petroleum and coal products...   110.7    115.6    114.8    112.2    112.4    114.1    114.3    114.2    114.2    113.2     -1.0
  Chemicals.....................   895.5    887.6    886.5    891.1    895.9    891.9    892.7    891.3    890.3    890.4       .1
  Plastics and rubber products..   805.7    810.4    810.3    807.3    805.8    808.8    809.5    809.2    811.1    811.0      -.1

    Service-providing........... 109,253  110,669  111,054  111,090  108,367  109,602  109,702  109,956  110,092  110,236      144

     Private service-providing..  87,358   88,675   88,907   89,003   86,823   87,973   88,050   88,281   88,405   88,520      115

Trade, transportation, and
 utilities......................  25,875   25,665   26,028   26,218   25,211   25,516   25,522   25,562   25,580   25,580        0

 Wholesale trade................ 5,604.1  5,678.3  5,685.9  5,701.5  5,598.4  5,652.8  5,662.8  5,670.4  5,678.4  5,695.4     17.0
  Durable goods................. 2,948.2  2,995.6  2,997.5  3,008.3  2,945.8  2,989.6  2,992.3  2,995.6  2,996.2  3,005.8      9.6
  Nondurable goods.............. 1,992.8  2,007.5  2,007.7  2,006.5  1,991.8  1,992.5  1,996.6  2,000.2  2,002.5  2,005.3      2.8
  Electronic markets and agents
   and brokers..................   663.1    675.2    680.7    686.7    660.8    670.7    673.9    674.6    679.7    684.3      4.6

 Retail trade...................15,486.7 15,107.0 15,464.2 15,617.6 14,876.0 15,048.8 15,030.5 15,055.6 15,064.5 15,044.9    -19.6
  Motor vehicle and parts
   dealers(1)................... 1,886.4  1,911.7  1,910.0  1,898.6  1,893.7  1,904.9  1,904.8  1,903.4  1,907.3  1,909.1      1.8
   Automobile dealers........... 1,256.9  1,254.9  1,255.2  1,250.1  1,259.5  1,256.8  1,253.7  1,251.6  1,254.6  1,254.7       .1
  Furniture and home furnishings
   stores.......................   568.6    552.2    566.4    573.3    547.2    548.7    548.7    550.0    550.8    551.8      1.0
  Electronics and appliance
   stores.......................   536.4    519.7    539.5    541.6    511.9    511.6    512.6    517.8    519.8    515.5     -4.3
  Building material and garden
   supply stores................ 1,193.2  1,254.3  1,252.5  1,241.9  1,209.5  1,251.7  1,256.5  1,258.7  1,262.4  1,263.9      1.5
  Food and beverage stores...... 2,858.0  2,838.7  2,858.4  2,865.1  2,813.9  2,832.9  2,832.2  2,832.3  2,827.9  2,822.6     -5.3
  Health and personal care
   stores.......................   967.5    956.3    965.8    969.2    952.6    956.4    956.4    956.3    957.5    956.8      -.7
  Gasoline stations.............   872.7    870.1    867.1    863.6    871.1    870.3    871.8    869.6    867.1    864.7     -2.4
  Clothing and clothing
   accessories stores........... 1,411.0  1,348.3  1,411.5  1,465.4  1,301.0  1,355.2  1,349.9  1,353.0  1,354.8  1,353.8     -1.0
  Sporting goods, hobby, book,
   and music stores.............   703.6    643.6    672.3    699.5    633.2    638.4    635.0    636.5    636.3    631.7     -4.6
  General merchandise stores(1). 3,080.7  2,839.2  3,026.9  3,093.0  2,793.4  2,823.8  2,810.9  2,822.8  2,828.2  2,822.9     -5.3
   Department stores............ 1,799.5  1,622.1  1,766.2  1,809.5  1,601.3  1,607.9  1,599.4  1,609.3  1,615.3  1,614.5      -.8
  Miscellaneous store retailers.   958.5    936.7    941.7    950.0    924.4    927.1    924.7    927.7    924.0    923.1      -.9
  Nonstore retailers............   450.1    436.2    452.1    456.4    424.1    427.8    427.0    427.5    428.4    429.0       .6

 Transportation and warehousing. 4,205.8  4,298.8  4,298.4  4,320.1  4,157.0  4,232.5  4,246.0  4,254.4  4,256.0  4,260.5      4.5
  Air transportation............   514.6    511.8    510.4    511.3    512.9    511.8    510.0    511.5    510.0    509.6      -.4
  Rail transportation...........   216.5    218.5    218.0    217.0    215.5    217.4    217.9    217.8    217.1    216.9      -.2
  Water transportation..........    48.9     51.2     48.7     48.9     50.0     50.3     50.1     50.7     50.2     50.2       .0
  Truck transportation.......... 1,344.4  1,383.6  1,375.3  1,381.4  1,338.7  1,363.7  1,368.1  1,367.4  1,366.7  1,374.7      8.0
  Transit and ground passenger
   transportation...............   398.6    398.1    398.3    400.0    385.0    374.5    380.2    382.7    383.6    384.8      1.2
  Pipeline transportation.......    38.9     38.5     38.4     38.6     38.8     38.5     38.6     38.4     38.3     38.2      -.1
  Scenic and sightseeing
   transportation...............    24.7     31.2     27.5     25.7     29.4     32.7     32.7     31.6     31.8     31.3      -.5
  Support activities for
   transportation...............   514.1    530.2    531.5    537.6    511.6    525.1    525.9    528.3    531.4    535.5      4.1
  Couriers and messengers.......   579.9    580.1    592.3    608.2    559.0    580.4    581.1    580.0    581.3    576.5     -4.8
  Warehousing and storage.......   525.2    555.6    558.0    551.4    516.1    538.1    541.4    546.0    545.6    542.8     -2.8

 Utilities......................   578.4    581.0    579.8    578.9    579.3    582.0    582.4    581.5    580.8    579.6     -1.2

Information.....................   3,189    3,157    3,171    3,169    3,175    3,166    3,159    3,163    3,164    3,161       -3
  Publishing industries, except
   Internet.....................   922.8    912.5    916.7    918.0    917.4    914.3    913.8    913.2    914.0    913.0     -1.0
  Motion picture and sound
   recording industries.........   392.5    389.8    390.7    388.8    385.2    388.7    389.4    395.0    388.7    386.4     -2.3
  Broadcasting, except Internet.   331.5    338.6    340.0    341.7    329.5    336.6    337.3    338.4    338.9    339.5       .6
  Internet publishing and
   broadcasting.................    30.0     35.4     36.4     36.6     30.4     34.2     34.5     35.7     36.4     36.9       .5
  Telecommunications............ 1,060.0  1,027.0  1,032.4  1,031.1  1,061.2  1,037.5  1,030.0  1,026.4  1,032.3  1,032.5       .2
  ISPs, search portals, and data
   processing...................   403.4    405.1    405.9    403.6    402.6    404.3    404.0    404.9    404.6    404.1      -.5
  Other information services....    48.4     48.9     48.4     48.7     48.2     50.0     49.6     49.0     48.7     48.6      -.1

Financial activities............   7,975    8,080    8,097    8,117    7,981    8,053    8,078    8,092    8,107    8,121       14
 Finance and insurance.......... 5,915.5  5,977.1  5,997.6  6,018.8  5,916.5  5,962.4  5,976.2  5,990.7  6,002.9  6,017.1     14.2
  Monetary authorities - central
   bank.........................    22.5     21.5     21.2     21.1     22.5     21.8     21.7     21.5     21.3     21.1      -.2
  Credit intermediation and
   related activities(1)........ 2,784.6  2,816.3  2,835.4  2,846.3  2,783.3  2,807.3  2,818.3  2,824.6  2,838.0  2,847.2      9.2
   Depository credit
    intermediation(1)........... 1,755.3  1,768.1  1,777.7  1,785.3  1,757.1  1,768.3  1,772.7  1,776.3  1,781.5  1,784.5      3.0
    Commercial banking.......... 1,277.8  1,284.1  1,291.7  1,296.7  1,278.9  1,283.0  1,287.5  1,290.1  1,295.0  1,297.4      2.4
  Securities, commodity
   contracts, investments.......   771.4    797.9    800.0    803.2    771.9    791.6    793.6    800.6    800.2    802.7      2.5
  Insurance carriers and related
   activities................... 2,256.3  2,264.4  2,264.6  2,270.7  2,258.1  2,263.9  2,265.1  2,266.7  2,266.6  2,269.1      2.5
  Funds, trusts, and other
   financial vehicles...........    80.7     77.0     76.4     77.5     80.7     77.8     77.5     77.3     76.8     77.0       .2
 Real estate and rental and
  leasing....................... 2,059.0  2,102.7  2,099.1  2,098.4  2,064.0  2,090.6  2,101.8  2,101.6  2,103.8  2,104.3       .5
  Real estate................... 1,394.3  1,435.6  1,437.9  1,435.1  1,395.7  1,424.1  1,431.6  1,433.4  1,437.7  1,437.3      -.4
  Rental and leasing services...   634.7    638.9    632.7    634.7    638.3    638.0    641.9    639.9    637.6    638.5       .9
  Lessors of nonfinancial
   intangible assets............    30.0     28.2     28.5     28.6     30.0     28.5     28.3     28.3     28.5     28.5       .0

Professional and business
 services.......................  16,136   16,848   16,781   16,690   16,159   16,518   16,548   16,643   16,664   16,705       41
 Professional and technical
  services(1)................... 6,650.0  6,781.9  6,800.9  6,841.4  6,669.3  6,762.0  6,783.3  6,817.4  6,835.7  6,864.2     28.5
   Legal services............... 1,142.4  1,149.7  1,149.0  1,150.1  1,140.5  1,146.2  1,148.4  1,148.5  1,147.1  1,148.7      1.6
   Accounting and bookkeeping
    services....................   791.1    763.9    768.4    802.3    826.6    815.3    815.7    826.3    830.3    835.3      5.0
   Architectural and engineering
    services.................... 1,230.7  1,291.1  1,292.7  1,290.7  1,235.2  1,269.3  1,275.1  1,284.3  1,291.3  1,298.2      6.9
   Computer systems design and
    related services............ 1,109.8  1,142.6  1,155.6  1,164.9  1,105.7  1,129.7  1,136.5  1,142.9  1,153.3  1,163.0      9.7
   Management and technical
    consulting services.........   770.5    801.2    797.7    802.7    764.0    794.3    793.9    796.7    795.4    797.9      2.5
 Management of companies and
  enterprises................... 1,682.7  1,681.1  1,688.9  1,687.1  1,670.2  1,682.5  1,679.1  1,678.2  1,679.3  1,678.6      -.7
 Administrative and waste
  services...................... 7,802.8  8,385.0  8,290.7  8,161.2  7,819.2  8,073.0  8,085.4  8,147.2  8,148.7  8,162.5     13.8
  Administrative and support
   services(1).................. 7,480.8  8,057.0  7,963.8  7,837.7  7,496.3  7,746.6  7,759.5  7,821.5  7,822.1  7,837.0     14.9
   Employment services(1)....... 3,495.5  3,865.6  3,813.3  3,789.7  3,461.3  3,607.8  3,633.6  3,692.9  3,696.5  3,719.9     23.4
    Temporary help services..... 2,378.1  2,681.9  2,630.0  2,603.1  2,355.3  2,474.7  2,501.4  2,554.2  2,551.7  2,561.1      9.4
   Business support services....   756.3    754.1    758.0    759.6    745.1    751.5    744.3    747.8    748.8    749.2       .4
   Services to buildings and
    dwellings................... 1,573.1  1,733.8  1,698.1  1,604.4  1,635.9  1,691.6  1,691.7  1,688.3  1,686.2  1,677.3     -8.9
  Waste management and
   remediation services.........   322.0    328.0    326.9    323.5    322.9    326.4    325.9    325.7    326.6    325.5     -1.1

Education and health services...  16,889   17,215   17,296   17,294   16,731   16,965   16,980   17,049   17,086   17,133       47
 Educational services........... 2,858.5  2,936.7  2,965.4  2,929.7  2,728.0  2,746.4  2,749.6  2,773.0  2,775.9  2,787.5     11.6
 Health care and social
  assistance....................14,030.1 14,278.7 14,330.7 14,364.3 14,003.2 14,218.3 14,230.0 14,275.6 14,309.8 14,345.3     35.5
  Ambulatory health care
   services(1).................. 4,842.0  4,964.9  4,985.9  5,005.8  4,831.0  4,935.1  4,938.4  4,964.6  4,978.1  4,995.2     17.1
   Offices of physicians........ 2,036.8  2,078.6  2,087.6  2,095.2  2,030.0  2,062.1  2,068.1  2,078.6  2,083.6  2,088.9      5.3
   Outpatient care centers......   425.7    436.6    438.2    439.1    425.0    438.0    436.9    437.7    438.3    438.8       .5
   Home health care services....   743.5    767.8    776.3    781.5    739.9    760.1    761.5    766.2    773.5    778.2      4.7
  Hospitals..................... 4,288.3  4,336.2  4,350.1  4,353.1  4,283.9  4,330.5  4,332.1  4,337.5  4,346.7  4,351.6      4.9
  Nursing and residential care
   facilities(1)................ 2,800.3  2,822.3  2,831.0  2,831.9  2,793.0  2,814.0  2,820.3  2,820.5  2,826.3  2,826.9       .6
   Nursing care facilities...... 1,585.7  1,588.3  1,595.2  1,592.7  1,581.7  1,586.3  1,587.1  1,587.1  1,591.4  1,590.6      -.8
  Social assistance(1).......... 2,099.5  2,155.3  2,163.7  2,173.5  2,095.3  2,138.7  2,139.2  2,153.0  2,158.7  2,171.6     12.9
   Child day care services......   777.3    799.1    801.4    803.5    770.0    792.7    783.3    789.9    792.4    798.2      5.8

Leisure and hospitality.........  11,927   12,313   12,130   12,110   12,192   12,341   12,353   12,362   12,387   12,399       12
 Arts, entertainment, and
  recreation.................... 1,654.1  1,748.2  1,640.2  1,625.6  1,795.2  1,785.6  1,793.8  1,787.6  1,783.4  1,772.3    -11.1
  Performing arts and spectator
   sports.......................   354.6    364.3    349.2    345.3    368.8    356.0    360.3    361.0    359.8    357.3     -2.5
  Museums, historical sites,
   zoos, and parks..............   109.4    116.3    113.3    110.3    113.1    116.7    116.2    115.7    115.6    114.8      -.8
  Amusements, gambling, and
   recreation................... 1,190.1  1,267.6  1,177.7  1,170.0  1,313.3  1,312.9  1,317.3  1,310.9  1,308.0  1,300.2     -7.8
 Accommodations and food
  services......................10,273.3 10,565.2 10,489.4 10,484.6 10,396.3 10,555.6 10,559.3 10,574.0 10,603.9 10,626.4     22.5
  Accommodations................ 1,691.2  1,754.7  1,732.0  1,727.1  1,763.0  1,767.9  1,771.4  1,769.2  1,786.7  1,790.6      3.9
  Food services and drinking
   places....................... 8,582.1  8,810.5  8,757.4  8,757.5  8,633.3  8,787.7  8,787.9  8,804.8  8,817.2  8,835.8     18.6

Other services..................   5,367    5,397    5,404    5,405    5,374    5,414    5,410    5,410    5,417    5,421        4
  Repair and maintenance........ 1,224.3  1,236.3  1,233.6  1,229.8  1,228.5  1,235.2  1,235.2  1,236.6  1,236.4  1,237.1       .7
  Personal and laundry services. 1,251.2  1,250.8  1,254.3  1,255.6  1,250.2  1,259.9  1,255.7  1,252.9  1,255.6  1,259.1      3.5
  Membership associations and
   organizations................ 2,891.6  2,909.9  2,916.4  2,919.1  2,895.7  2,919.1  2,918.8  2,920.3  2,924.5  2,924.8       .3

Government......................  21,895   21,994   22,147   22,087   21,544   21,629   21,652   21,675   21,687   21,716       29
 Federal........................   2,739    2,706    2,705    2,719    2,720    2,712    2,713    2,706    2,713    2,706       -7
  Federal, except U.S. Postal
   Service...................... 1,921.5  1,923.5  1,919.6  1,924.5  1,928.9  1,926.3  1,927.6  1,923.6  1,930.4  1,931.5      1.1
  U.S. Postal Service...........   817.4    782.8    785.4    794.9    791.4    785.3    784.9    781.9    782.3    774.6     -7.7
 State government...............   5,119    5,190    5,215    5,183    5,027    5,035    5,047    5,058    5,066    5,076       10
  State government education.... 2,395.4  2,448.4  2,474.5  2,437.6  2,285.7  2,285.2  2,299.7  2,307.0  2,311.4  2,317.3      5.9
  State government, excluding
   education.................... 2,723.9  2,742.0  2,740.0  2,745.1  2,740.9  2,749.4  2,747.5  2,751.1  2,754.5  2,758.7      4.2
 Local government...............  14,037   14,098   14,227   14,185   13,797   13,882   13,892   13,911   13,908   13,934       26
  Local government education.... 7,999.4  8,004.7  8,119.7  8,108.6  7,687.1  7,758.4  7,760.4  7,774.9  7,779.9  7,793.5     13.6
  Local government, excluding
   education.................... 6,037.9  6,092.9  6,107.3  6,076.1  6,109.7  6,123.2  6,131.6  6,136.3  6,128.1  6,140.8     12.7


  1 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
  p = preliminary.





ESTABLISHMENT DATA                                                                                              ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-2.  Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers(1) on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector
and selected industry detail


                                                   Not seasonally adjusted              Seasonally adjusted

                                                                                                                         Change
                  Industry                       Dec.   Oct.   Nov.   Dec.    Dec.   Aug.   Sept.  Oct.   Nov.   Dec.     from:
                                                 2003   2004   2004p  2004p   2003   2004   2004   2004   2004p  2004p  Nov. 2004-
                                                                                                                        Dec. 2004p


        Total private.........................   33.6   33.8   33.7   33.8    33.6   33.7   33.8   33.8   33.7   33.8       0.1

    Goods-producing...........................   40.1   40.2   40.1   40.3    39.9   40.1   40.1   40.0   39.9   39.9        .0

Natural resources and mining..................   43.5   45.3   45.4   44.7    43.6   44.4   44.6   44.8   44.9   44.9        .0

Construction..................................   37.4   38.8   38.2   38.2    38.1   38.1   38.4   38.3   38.4   38.4        .0

Manufacturing.................................   41.3   40.7   40.8   41.2    40.6   40.9   40.8   40.6   40.5   40.5        .0
   Overtime hours.............................    4.9    4.7    4.6    4.9     4.5    4.6    4.6    4.5    4.5    4.5        .0

 Durable goods................................   41.9   41.2   41.2   41.9    41.2   41.3   41.2   41.1   41.0   41.1        .1
   Overtime hours.............................    5.2    4.8    4.7    5.1     4.7    4.7    4.7    4.7    4.6    4.6        .0

  Wood products...............................   41.1   40.4   40.2   40.2    41.0   40.9   40.3   40.2   40.0   40.0        .0
  Nonmetallic mineral products................   41.9   42.8   42.6   42.4    42.3   42.3   42.4   42.4   42.4   42.5        .1
  Primary metals..............................   43.5   42.9   43.3   43.9    42.7   43.3   43.1   43.1   43.1   43.1        .0
  Fabricated metal products...................   41.7   41.2   41.1   41.7    40.8   41.2   41.2   41.0   40.8   40.9        .1
  Machinery...................................   41.9   42.0   42.3   42.9    41.1   42.1   42.3   42.2   42.2   42.1       -.1
  Computer and electronic products............   41.3   40.3   40.3   41.0    40.4   40.5   40.3   40.2   39.9   40.2        .3
  Electrical equipment and appliances.........   42.0   40.8   40.6   40.4    40.7   41.0   40.5   40.4   40.1   39.6       -.5
  Transportation equipment....................   43.7   42.5   42.4   43.5    42.7   42.5   42.4   42.4   42.2   42.4        .2
  Furniture and related products..............   40.4   38.9   39.5   40.6    39.7   39.5   39.3   39.1   39.4   39.7        .3
  Miscellaneous manufacturing.................   39.2   38.4   38.4   39.2    38.5   38.5   38.3   38.3   38.2   38.5        .3

 Nondurable goods.............................   40.5   40.0   40.1   40.2    39.9   40.2   40.1   39.8   39.7   39.6       -.1
   Overtime hours.............................    4.4    4.5    4.5    4.5     4.2    4.4    4.4    4.3    4.3    4.3        .0

  Food manufacturing..........................   39.7   39.3   39.6   39.3    39.1   39.3   39.4   38.9   38.9   38.7       -.2
  Beverages and tobacco products..............   38.9   38.3   38.6   38.4    39.1   39.5   39.1   38.5   38.5   38.4       -.1
  Textile mills...............................   40.2   39.8   40.1   40.7    39.7   40.5   40.1   40.1   40.0   40.1        .1
  Textile product mills.......................   40.6   39.2   39.0   39.0    39.8   38.7   39.0   39.0   38.8   38.4       -.4
  Apparel.....................................   36.0   35.9   36.1   36.9    35.8   36.1   36.2   36.0   35.9   36.3        .4
  Leather and allied products.................   40.8   38.5   38.2   36.5    40.3   37.8   38.1   38.3   38.1   36.8      -1.3
  Paper and paper products....................   42.7   42.3   42.4   43.1    41.8   42.5   42.1   42.2   42.0   42.0        .0
  Printing and related support activities.....   38.7   38.5   38.8   38.9    38.2   38.5   38.3   38.2   38.3   38.2       -.1
  Petroleum and coal products.................   44.1   45.1   45.7   45.2    44.2   46.3   45.8   44.9   45.4   45.0       -.4
  Chemicals...................................   42.9   42.5   42.6   42.4    42.5   42.8   42.8   42.6   42.3   42.2       -.1
  Plastics and rubber products................   41.2   40.1   39.9   40.4    40.4   40.5   40.2   40.0   39.6   39.7        .1

     Private service-providing................   32.2   32.4   32.3   32.4    32.2   32.4   32.5   32.5   32.4   32.5        .1

Trade, transportation, and utilities..........   33.6   33.5   33.3   33.6    33.5   33.5   33.6   33.6   33.5   33.5        .0

 Wholesale trade..............................   37.8   37.6   37.6   37.5    37.8   37.6   37.8   37.7   37.6   37.6        .0

 Retail trade.................................   31.0   30.7   30.4   31.0    30.8   30.7   30.8   30.8   30.7   30.8        .1

 Transportation and warehousing...............   36.9   37.4   37.5   37.4    36.7   37.2   37.4   37.4   37.3   37.2       -.1

 Utilities....................................   40.7   41.0   40.8   40.4    40.8   40.9   41.4   40.7   40.5   40.6        .1

Information...................................   36.1   36.4   36.5   36.3    36.2   36.4   36.4   36.4   36.4   36.4        .0

Financial activities..........................   35.2   35.5   35.5   35.7    35.3   35.5   35.5   35.7   35.6   35.8        .2

Professional and business services............   33.7   34.2   34.1   34.1    33.8   34.2   34.5   34.3   34.2   34.2        .0

Education and health services.................   32.3   32.5   32.5   32.5    32.4   32.5   32.6   32.6   32.5   32.6        .1

Leisure and hospitality.......................   25.2   25.6   25.4   25.5    25.6   25.6   25.6   25.7   25.7   25.8        .1

Other services................................   31.0   31.0   30.9   31.0    31.0   31.1   31.1   31.0   31.0   31.0        .0


  1 Data relate to production workers in natural resources and mining and manufacturing, construction workers in construction,
and nonsupervisory workers in the service-providing industries.  These groups account for approximately four-fifths of the
total employment on private nonfarm payrolls.
  p = preliminary.





ESTABLISHMENT DATA                                                                                          ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-3.  Average hourly and weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers(1) on private nonfarm payrolls
by industry sector and selected industry detail


                                                       Average hourly earnings                  Average weekly earnings

                  Industry                         Dec.      Oct.     Nov.      Dec.       Dec.      Oct.     Nov.      Dec.
                                                   2003      2004     2004p     2004p      2003      2004     2004p     2004p

        Total private........................... $15.48    $15.83    $15.86    $15.89    $520.13   $535.05   $534.48   $537.08
         Seasonally adjusted....................  15.45     15.82     15.84     15.86     519.12    534.72    533.81    536.07

    Goods-producing.............................  17.03     17.39     17.38     17.43     682.90    699.08    696.94    702.43

Natural resources and mining....................  17.97     18.14     18.32     18.41     781.70    821.74    831.73    822.93

Construction....................................  19.10     19.47     19.37     19.35     714.34    755.44    739.93    739.17

Manufacturing...................................  16.05     16.27     16.33     16.47     662.87    662.19    666.26    678.56

 Durable goods..................................  16.78     16.99     17.05     17.22     703.08    699.99    702.46    721.52
  Wood products.................................  12.93     13.02     13.09     13.13     531.42    526.01    526.22    527.83
  Nonmetallic mineral products..................  15.98     16.38     16.50     16.48     669.56    701.06    702.90    698.75
  Primary metals................................  18.39     18.74     18.69     18.73     799.97    803.95    809.28    822.25
  Fabricated metal products.....................  15.23     15.37     15.44     15.54     635.09    633.24    634.58    648.02
  Machinery.....................................  16.62     16.83     16.80     16.89     696.38    706.86    710.64    724.58
  Computer and electronic products..............  16.85     17.51     17.60     17.86     695.91    705.65    709.28    732.26
  Electrical equipment and appliances...........  14.68     15.00     15.02     15.08     616.56    612.00    609.81    609.23
  Transportation equipment......................  21.74     21.84     21.95     22.27     950.04    928.20    930.68    968.75
  Furniture and related products................  13.08     13.26     13.29     13.51     528.43    515.81    524.96    548.51
  Miscellaneous manufacturing...................  13.60     13.91     13.97     13.96     533.12    534.14    536.45    547.23

 Nondurable goods...............................  14.88     15.12     15.17     15.24     602.64    604.80    608.32    612.65
  Food manufacturing............................  12.95     12.93     12.97     13.01     514.12    508.15    513.61    511.29
  Beverages and tobacco products................  18.58     19.20     18.84     18.72     722.76    735.36    727.22    718.85
  Textile mills.................................  12.21     12.12     12.12     12.19     490.84    482.38    486.01    496.13
  Textile product mills.........................  11.44     11.44     11.44     11.68     464.46    448.45    446.16    455.52
  Apparel.......................................   9.80      9.97     10.02     10.02     352.80    357.92    361.72    369.74
  Leather and allied products...................  11.90     11.57     11.53     11.74     485.52    445.45    440.45    428.51
  Paper and paper products......................  17.60     17.87     18.10     17.99     751.52    755.90    767.44    775.37
  Printing and related support activities.......  15.56     15.94     15.90     15.86     602.17    613.69    616.92    616.95
  Petroleum and coal products...................  24.06     24.35     24.78     24.56    1061.05   1098.19   1132.45   1110.11
  Chemicals.....................................  18.79     19.47     19.47     19.76     806.09    827.48    829.42    837.82
  Plastics and rubber products..................  14.47     14.55     14.60     14.73     596.16    583.46    582.54    595.09

     Private service-providing..................  15.07     15.41     15.46     15.48     485.25    499.28    499.36    501.55

Trade, transportation, and utilities............  14.31     14.78     14.77     14.72     480.82    495.13    491.84    494.59

 Wholesale trade................................  17.46     17.77     17.81     17.83     659.99    668.15    669.66    668.63

 Retail trade...................................  11.87     12.18     12.18     12.14     367.97    373.93    370.27    376.34

 Transportation and warehousing.................  16.33     16.98     17.00     17.08     602.58    635.05    637.50    638.79

 Utilities......................................  25.26     26.00     25.99     26.05    1028.08   1066.00   1060.39   1052.42

Information.....................................  21.10     21.69     21.71     21.86     761.71    789.52    792.42    793.52

Financial activities............................  17.26     17.67     17.62     17.65     607.55    627.29    625.51    630.11

Professional and business services..............  17.29     17.50     17.59     17.70     582.67    598.50    599.82    603.57

Education and health services...................  15.86     16.25     16.28     16.29     512.28    528.13    529.10    529.43

Leisure and hospitality.........................   8.94      9.01      9.06      9.17     225.29    230.66    230.12    233.84

Other services..................................  13.88     13.97     14.04     14.11     430.28    433.07    433.84    437.41


  1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
  p = preliminary.





ESTABLISHMENT DATA                                                                             ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-4.  Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers(1) on private nonfarm payrolls
by industry sector and selected industry detail, seasonally adjusted


                                                                                                       Percent
                  Industry                        Dec.     Aug.     Sept.    Oct.     Nov.     Dec.  change from:
                                                  2003     2004     2004     2004     2004p    2004p  Nov. 2004-
                                                                                                      Dec. 2004p
        Total private:
         Current dollars........................ $15.45   $15.76   $15.78   $15.82   $15.84   $15.86      0.1
         Constant (1982) dollars(2).............   8.30     8.26     8.25     8.22     8.22     N.A.     (3)

    Goods-producing.............................  16.97    17.24    17.30    17.33    17.35    17.38       .2

Natural resources and mining....................  17.91    18.12    18.11    18.19    18.32    18.34       .1

Construction....................................  19.04    19.25    19.27    19.33    19.34    19.34       .0

Manufacturing...................................  15.93    16.23    16.29    16.29    16.30    16.36       .4
   Excluding overtime(4)........................  15.09    15.37    15.42    15.43    15.44    15.50       .4

 Durable goods..................................  16.64    16.90    16.98    16.99    17.00    17.07       .4

 Nondurable goods...............................  14.81    15.15    15.19    15.16    15.18    15.20       .1

     Private service-providing..................  15.05    15.36    15.38    15.41    15.43    15.46       .2

Trade, transportation, and utilities............  14.41    14.73    14.74    14.77    14.79    14.82       .2

 Wholesale trade................................  17.46    17.70    17.74    17.80    17.81    17.84       .2

 Retail trade...................................  11.95    12.16    12.17    12.17    12.22    12.23       .1

 Transportation and warehousing.................  16.33    16.99    16.91    16.97    16.97    17.04       .4

 Utilities......................................  25.13    25.54    25.73    25.95    25.85    25.95       .4

Information.....................................  20.99    21.53    21.61    21.60    21.58    21.78       .9

Financial activities............................  17.30    17.58    17.61    17.68    17.65    17.70       .3

Professional and business services..............  17.25    17.56    17.52    17.59    17.62    17.65       .2

Education and health services...................  15.81    16.19    16.23    16.24    16.27    16.26      -.1

Leisure and hospitality.........................   8.84     8.91     8.95     8.99     9.02     9.03       .1

Other services..................................  13.80    13.92    13.95    13.99    14.02    14.03       .1


  1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
  2 The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) is used to deflate this series.
  3 Change was .0 percent from Oct. 2004 to Nov. 2004, the latest month available.
  4 Derived by assuming that overtime hours are paid at the rate of time and one-half.
  N.A. = not available.
  p = preliminary.





ESTABLISHMENT DATA                                                                                               ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-5.  Indexes of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers(1) on private nonfarm payrolls
by industry sector and selected industry detail

(2002=100)


                                                   Not seasonally adjusted              Seasonally adjusted

                                                                                                                         Percent
                  Industry                      Dec.   Oct.   Nov.   Dec.    Dec.   Aug.   Sept.  Oct.   Nov.   Dec.   change from:
                                                2003   2004   2004p  2004p   2003   2004   2004   2004   2004p  2004p   Nov. 2004-
                                                                                                                        Dec. 2004p

        Total private.........................   98.9  101.8  101.6  101.8    98.4  100.4  100.8  101.1  100.9  101.3       0.4

    Goods-producing...........................   95.3   99.4   98.5   97.7    95.2   97.4   97.4   97.3   97.2   97.3        .1

Natural resources and mining..................   96.9  108.1  108.1  105.7    97.1  103.8  105.0  104.5  105.7  106.4        .7

Construction..................................   94.9  107.8  104.6  100.8    98.2  100.9  101.9  102.3  102.9  103.2        .3

Manufacturing.................................   95.4   95.2   95.2   96.0    93.6   95.4   95.0   94.6   94.3   94.3        .0

 Durable goods................................   95.9   96.0   95.9   97.5    94.1   96.1   95.7   95.6   95.2   95.5        .3
  Wood products...............................   98.9  101.2   99.8   99.0    99.2  101.0   99.3   99.9   99.2   99.3        .1
  Nonmetallic mineral products................   91.5  100.7   99.6   97.0    93.6   97.4   98.2   98.0   98.2   98.4        .2
  Primary metals..............................   93.6   92.5   93.4   94.9    91.7   93.4   92.7   93.0   93.1   92.9       -.2
  Fabricated metal products...................   97.4   99.1   98.8  100.3    95.0   98.6   98.7   98.4   97.9   98.4        .5
  Machinery...................................   95.7   97.4   98.3   99.8    93.5   98.6   98.6   98.3   98.0   97.5       -.5
  Computer and electronic products............   92.0   92.2   91.7   93.1    89.4   92.7   92.2   91.8   90.6   91.0        .4
  Electrical equipment and appliances.........   93.3   89.3   89.3   88.6    90.0   90.2   89.1   88.5   88.0   86.5      -1.7
  Transportation equipment....................   99.8   97.2   97.1  100.1    96.8   97.5   96.8   96.9   96.2   96.9        .7
  Furniture and related products..............   96.0   92.6   94.3   97.0    94.1   94.7   94.0   93.5   94.2   94.9        .7
  Miscellaneous manufacturing.................   93.4   91.3   91.8   93.6    91.6   91.5   91.0   90.9   90.8   91.6        .9

 Nondurable goods.............................   94.6   94.0   93.7   93.8    93.2   93.9   93.7   92.9   92.6   92.4       -.2
  Food manufacturing..........................   99.1  100.0   99.7   99.1    97.1   98.0   98.1   97.1   97.1   96.9       -.2
  Beverages and tobacco products..............   85.8   90.9   93.5   89.4    87.4   91.6   91.8   89.7   93.2   90.5      -2.9
  Textile mills...............................   81.0   76.3   76.1   76.2    80.4   78.8   77.5   77.0   75.9   75.5       -.5
  Textile product mills.......................   93.6   92.9   93.1   93.1    91.9   92.1   93.4   93.4   93.2   91.9      -1.4
  Apparel.....................................   76.9   73.0   71.7   72.3    77.6   75.2   75.1   72.7   71.7   72.4       1.0
  Leather and allied products.................   92.5   91.4   93.0   85.7    92.2   87.5   89.0   91.0   92.3   87.6      -5.1
  Paper and paper products....................   93.8   92.1   91.7   93.5    91.5   92.5   91.3   91.4   90.5   90.5        .0
  Printing and related support activities.....   95.2   93.8   94.4   94.9    93.6   93.6   92.8   92.8   93.1   92.9       -.2
  Petroleum and coal products.................   96.1  108.9  109.5  106.6    97.8  109.9  109.4  107.0  108.4  107.5       -.8
  Chemicals...................................   99.4   98.6   98.6   99.3    98.6   99.8  100.0   99.5   98.6   98.7        .1
  Plastics and rubber products................   95.7   94.3   93.7   94.4    94.0   94.8   94.3   93.8   93.1   93.2        .1

     Private service-providing................   99.9  102.5  102.5  102.9    99.1  101.5  101.9  102.2  102.1  102.5        .4

Trade, transportation, and utilities..........  101.4  100.3  101.5  103.2    98.0   99.5   99.9  100.1  100.0   99.9       -.1

 Wholesale trade..............................   97.5   99.2   99.3   99.3    97.4   98.4   99.2   99.2   99.2   99.5        .3

 Retail trade.................................  103.7   99.8  101.6  104.8    98.3   99.3   99.6   99.7   99.5   99.6        .1

 Transportation and warehousing...............   99.7  104.1  104.6  104.9    97.6  101.6  102.8  102.8  102.6  102.2       -.4

 Utilities....................................   96.8   96.9   96.4   95.3    97.2   96.8   98.0   96.3   95.9   95.8       -.1

Information...................................   97.7  101.1  101.9  101.5    97.5  100.9  101.1  101.5  101.7  101.8        .1

Financial activities..........................  100.2  102.4  102.6  103.2   100.7  102.0  102.3  103.1  103.0  103.6        .6

Professional and business services............   98.4  105.4  104.7  103.9    98.7  103.0  104.2  104.3  104.1  104.2        .1

Education and health services.................  102.8  105.2  105.7  105.7   102.1  103.8  104.1  104.5  104.4  104.9        .5

Leisure and hospitality.......................   96.4  101.4   99.0   99.2   100.2  101.6  101.7  102.2  102.5  103.0        .5

Other services................................   95.4   96.4   96.4   96.6    95.4   97.0   96.9   96.7   96.8   97.0        .2


  1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
  p = preliminary.
  NOTE:  The indexes of aggregate weekly hours are calculated by dividing the current month's estimates of aggregate hours
by the corresponding 2002 annual average levels.  Aggregate hours estimates are the product of estimates of average
weekly hours and production or nonsupervisory worker employment.





ESTABLISHMENT DATA                                                                                               ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-6.  Indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls of production or nonsupervisory workers(1) on private nonfarm payrolls
by industry sector and selected industry detail

(2002=100)


                                                   Not seasonally adjusted              Seasonally adjusted

                                                                                                                         Percent
                  Industry                      Dec.   Oct.   Nov.   Dec.    Dec.   Aug.   Sept.  Oct.   Nov.   Dec.   change from:
                                                2003   2004   2004p  2004p   2003   2004   2004   2004   2004p  2004p   Nov. 2004-
                                                                                                                        Dec. 2004p

        Total private.........................  102.4  107.8  107.9  108.2   101.7  105.8  106.4  107.0  107.0  107.5       0.5

    Goods-producing...........................   99.4  105.9  104.9  104.3    98.9  102.8  103.2  103.3  103.2  103.5        .3

Natural resources and mining..................  101.2  114.0  115.2  113.2   101.1  109.4  110.6  110.6  112.6  113.5        .8

Construction..................................   97.9  113.3  109.4  105.3   100.9  104.9  106.0  106.8  107.5  107.7        .2

Manufacturing.................................  100.1  101.3  101.6  103.4    97.5  101.2  101.3  100.8  100.5  100.9        .4

 Durable goods................................  100.5  101.8  102.1  104.8    97.8  101.4  101.5  101.4  101.0  101.7        .7

 Nondurable goods.............................   99.5  100.4  100.5  101.0    97.5  100.6  100.5   99.5   99.3   99.2       -.1

     Private service-providing................  103.4  108.5  108.8  109.4   102.5  107.1  107.7  108.2  108.2  108.9        .6

Trade, transportation, and utilities..........  103.5  105.8  106.9  108.4   100.7  104.6  105.1  105.5  105.5  105.6        .1

 Wholesale trade..............................  100.3  103.8  104.2  104.3   100.2  102.6  103.7  104.0  104.1  104.6        .5

 Retail trade.................................  105.5  104.2  106.1  109.0   100.7  103.5  103.9  104.0  104.3  104.4        .1

 Transportation and warehousing...............  103.3  112.2  112.8  113.7   101.1  109.5  110.2  110.7  110.5  110.5        .0

 Utilities....................................  102.0  105.2  104.6  103.6   101.9  103.2  105.3  104.4  103.4  103.8        .4

Information...................................  102.1  108.5  109.5  109.9   101.3  107.5  108.1  108.5  108.7  109.8       1.0

Financial activities..........................  106.9  111.8  111.7  112.6   107.7  110.9  111.4  112.7  112.4  113.4        .9

Professional and business services............  101.2  109.8  109.6  109.5   101.3  107.6  108.6  109.1  109.1  109.5        .4

Education and health services.................  107.2  112.4  113.1  113.2   106.1  110.4  111.0  111.6  111.6  112.2        .5

Leisure and hospitality.......................  100.4  106.6  104.6  106.1   103.3  105.5  106.1  107.2  107.8  108.5        .6

Other services................................   96.4   98.1   98.6   99.3    96.0   98.4   98.5   98.5   98.9   99.1        .2


  1 See footnote 1, table B-2.
  p = preliminary.
  NOTE:  The indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls are calculated by dividing the current month's estimates of aggregate
payrolls by the corresponding 2002 annual average levels.  Aggregate payroll estimates are the product of estimates of
average hourly earnings, average weekly hours, and production or nonsupervisory worker employment.
ESTABLISHMENT DATA                                                                                              ESTABLISHMENT DATA

Table B-7.  Diffusion indexes of employment change, seasonally adjusted

(Percent)


       Time span           Jan.     Feb.     Mar.     Apr.     May      June     July     Aug.     Sept.    Oct.     Nov.     Dec.

                                                        Private nonfarm payrolls, 278 industries(1)


Over 1-month span:
     2000 ..............   61.9     62.9     63.3     59.5     46.9     61.7     63.1     52.5     51.1     53.4     56.8     53.8
     2001 ..............   52.2     47.8     50.4     34.4     41.4     39.2     37.1     38.8     38.3     32.4     36.7     34.9
     2002 ..............   40.1     35.1     41.0     41.5     41.7     47.8     44.1     44.1     42.8     39.0     38.7     34.5
     2003 ..............   41.2     35.1     38.1     41.4     42.8     40.1     40.5     39.7     49.3     46.0     51.1     49.1
     2004 ..............   52.3     56.1     68.7     67.6     63.8     60.6     55.2     56.3     56.8     58.3    p57.4    p57.6


Over 3-month span:
     2000 ..............   69.2     66.2     67.8     68.3     60.1     58.1     56.3     61.5     56.5     53.2     52.9     56.8
     2001 ..............   52.7     50.4     50.4     43.5     38.8     34.9     36.2     37.9     34.7     35.3     30.8     32.0
     2002 ..............   34.0     37.4     35.1     36.2     36.7     39.4     39.9     40.8     38.7     37.1     34.4     34.7
     2003 ..............   36.5     32.6     36.3     35.1     40.5     42.6     37.4     35.4     40.1     45.5     50.5     51.1
     2004 ..............   54.0     55.2     62.8     70.0     74.5     68.7     64.6     57.2     60.6     57.7    p58.6    p58.1


Over 6-month span:
     2000 ..............   67.3     69.1     72.5     72.5     67.4     67.8     66.7     60.8     59.0     55.0     59.7     54.0
     2001 ..............   51.8     50.0     51.8     47.3     43.5     41.5     38.1     35.4     32.2     33.1     31.5     31.1
     2002 ..............   29.5     30.0     31.1     31.1     31.7     37.1     37.2     39.0     34.7     36.5     35.3     33.3
     2003 ..............   33.6     31.1     31.7     31.7     33.5     37.8     36.2     36.5     40.5     39.4     42.6     41.7
     2004 ..............   48.9     54.1     59.5     64.7     67.8     71.2     68.3     71.6     67.1     65.1    p61.0    p56.3


Over 12-month span:
     2000 ..............   70.9     69.2     73.2     71.0     69.8     71.0     70.0     70.3     70.3     65.6     63.8     62.1
     2001 ..............   59.5     59.5     53.4     49.3     48.6     45.0     43.3     43.9     39.9     37.8     37.1     34.9
     2002 ..............   33.6     31.7     30.2     30.4     30.2     29.1     32.0     31.3     30.0     29.5     32.9     34.7
     2003 ..............   34.5     31.5     32.9     33.5     36.2     34.4     34.7     33.1     37.6     37.4     33.1     35.4
     2004 ..............   37.8     43.2     47.3     50.7     54.9     60.3     64.0     63.8     65.3     66.5    p68.7    p66.5

                                                        Manufacturing payrolls, 84 industries(1)


Over 1-month span:
     2000 ..............   48.2     58.3     50.0     50.0     41.1     57.1     60.7     28.6     25.0     35.1     39.9     41.1
     2001 ..............   22.6     22.0     21.4     16.1     15.5     23.2     13.7     14.3     19.0     17.9     14.9     10.1
     2002 ..............   21.4     18.5     23.8     35.1     29.8     32.7     40.5     28.0     31.0     11.9     15.5     17.9
     2003 ..............   26.2     15.5     22.6     13.7     26.2     25.0     28.0     26.2     27.4     28.6     51.2     45.8
     2004 ..............   42.9     55.4     60.1     66.1     64.9     52.4     57.1     48.2     44.0     47.6    p47.6    p51.2


Over 3-month span:
     2000 ..............   53.6     53.6     56.0     54.8     44.0     44.0     51.2     47.6     32.7     25.0     23.2     38.7
     2001 ..............   35.7     21.4     16.1     14.3     13.1     13.7     11.9      8.9      8.3     13.1      8.9     10.1
     2002 ..............    9.5     10.1     11.3     17.9     17.3     19.0     28.0     22.0     23.8     15.5      6.5      4.8
     2003 ..............   13.7     13.1     16.7     10.1     13.1     14.9     16.1     16.1     16.1     24.4     27.4     41.7
     2004 ..............   48.8     51.8     59.5     66.1     71.4     65.5     65.5     51.8     53.0     43.5    p44.6    p42.3


Over 6-month span:
     2000 ..............   44.0     52.4     55.4     57.7     47.6     51.8     56.0     45.2     39.3     34.5     32.1     27.4
     2001 ..............   22.0     23.8     22.0     20.8     14.3     13.7     14.3     10.1     10.7      5.4      7.1      4.8
     2002 ..............    6.5      8.9      7.7      8.3      7.7     14.3     14.9     10.7     12.5     10.1      8.9      8.9
     2003 ..............   11.3      9.5      6.0      7.1      8.9     13.1      8.9     13.1     13.1     16.7     19.0     19.6
     2004 ..............   28.6     36.9     46.4     56.5     61.3     64.9     66.7     66.1     58.3     54.8    p45.2    p46.4


Over 12-month span:
     2000 ..............   41.7     39.3     47.0     50.0     46.4     52.4     51.8     49.4     46.4     40.5     35.1     33.3
     2001 ..............   29.8     32.1     20.8     19.0     13.1     12.5     10.7     11.9     11.9     10.1      8.3      6.0
     2002 ..............    7.1      6.0      6.0      6.5      7.1      3.6      4.8      6.0      4.8      7.1      4.8      8.3
     2003 ..............   10.7      6.0      6.5      5.4      8.3      9.5      9.5      9.5     10.7     11.9      9.5     11.3
     2004 ..............    9.5     19.0     16.7     26.2     29.8     40.5     50.0     50.6     52.4     55.4    p52.4    p48.2


  1 Based on seasonally adjusted data for 1-, 3-, 6-month spans and unadjusted data for the 12-month span.
  p = preliminary.
  NOTE:  Figures are the percent of industries with employment increasing plus one-half of the industries with
unchanged employment, where 50 percent indicates an equal balance between industries with increasing and decreasing
employment.