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                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                  Friday, September 2, 2005
                              
                              
                              
      Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 169,000 in August,
following a gain of 242,000 in July (as revised).  The
unemployment rate, at 4.9 percent in August, was little
changed; the jobless rate has decreased by 0.5 percentage
point since February.  Payroll employment has increased by
2.2 million over the year.  In August, job growth continued
in several industries, with notable gains in health care,
accommodations and food services, and construction.
Manufacturing employment edged down over the month.
(Hurricane Katrina struck Florida and the Gulf Coast after
the August survey reference period, and therefore did not
affect August estimates from the payroll and household
surveys.)
      
      Health care added 26,000 jobs in August.  Employment
in the industry has increased by 264,000 over the year.
Over the month, employment rose in hospitals and ambulatory
health care services, such as doctors' offices.
      
      Employment growth continued in accommodations and
food services.  Over the year, employment in food services
has increased by 280,000.
      
      Wholesale trade employment continued to trend up in
August.  Since its most recent trough in August 2003, the
industry has added 150,000 jobs.  Most of this gain occurred
in durable goods and in electronic market components.
Retail trade employment was little changed in August,
following a large increase in July.  Over the year, the
industry has added 224,000 jobs.  Employment in financial
activities rose by 15,000 in August and by 184,000 over the
year.
      
      Employment continued to expand in professional and
business services in August.  Over the year, the industry
added 507,000 jobs.  In August, employment in temporary help
was about unchanged; job growth in the industry has slowed
since last fall.
      
      Within the goods-producing sector, employment in
construction rose by 25,000 in August and has increased by
277,000 over the year.  Nearly three-fourths of August's job
gain occurred among specialty trade contractors.  Employment
in mining edged up over the month and has risen by 67,000
since its most recent trough in April 2003.  Much  of the
increase over this period has been in support activities for
oil and gas.
      
      Manufacturing employment edged down in August; over
the year, factory job losses have totaled 110,000.  Over the
month, employment continued to decline in motor vehicles and
parts.  Since May, this industry has shed 37,000 jobs.  Both
the factory workweek, at 40.5 hours, and factory overtime,
at 4.5 hours, were unchanged over the month.
      
      Average hourly earnings of private production or
nonsupervisory workers rose by 2 cents in August to $16.16,
following a 7-cent increase in July.  Over the year, average
hourly earnings have grown by 2.7 percent.
      
      Turning to data from the household survey, the
unemployment rate was little changed in August at 4.9
percent but has trended down since February, when it was
5.4 percent.  The jobless rate for adult women declined
over the month, while the rates for the other major worker
groups showed little or no change from July.
      
      Total employment continued to trend up in August.
The employment-to-population ratio, at 62.9 percent, is 0.6
percentage point higher than it was in February.
      
     As part of our mission reporting on America's workers
each month, and in recognition of Labor Day this coming
Monday, I would like to highlight a few characteristics of
our Nation's labor force, which now totals nearly 150
million workers.
     
     The American labor force is demographically diverse.
Women make up nearly half of the labor force (46 percent in
2004).  By race and ethnicity, non-Hispanic whites make up
the largest share of the labor force (70 percent).
Hispanics are the next largest group accounting for 13
percent of the total, followed by non-Hispanic blacks and
Asians (11 and 4 percent, respectively).  About 1 in 7 labor
force participants in the U.S. are immigrants.  Between 2000
and 2004, these foreign-born workers have accounted for
about half of the net labor force growth.
     
     Looking at education and the type of occupations
workers hold, three-fifths of employed persons age 25 and
over have some post-secondary schooling.  One-third of
workers have a college degree or more.  Only 10 percent have
less than a high school diploma.  A little over a third of
employed individuals work in management or professional
occupations and about one-fourth hold sales and office jobs.
Sixteen percent are service workers, and 13 percent are
employed in production and transportation occupations.
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations
account for the remainder.
     
     Returning to August's labor market developments,
nonfarm payroll employment rose by 169,000, and the
unemployment rate was 4.9 percent.