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                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                    Friday, July 8, 2005


     Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 146,000 in June, and
the unemployment rate, at 5.0 percent, continued its recent
downward trend.  Payroll employment has increased by 2.1
million over the year.  In June, job growth continued in
several industries, with notable gains in professional and
business services and in health care.  Manufacturing
employment declined over the month.
     
     Professional and business services added 56,000 jobs in
June and nearly half a million over the year.  Employment
continued to trend upward in several component industries,
including architectural and engineering services and
computer systems design and related services.  Temporary
help services employment was little changed over the month;
job growth in the industry has slowed since last fall.

     Employment in health care continued to expand in June
with a gain of 25,000.  The industry has added 249,000 jobs
over the year.  Over the month, employment rose in hospitals
and in ambulatory health care services, such as doctors'
offices.

     Employment growth continued in construction in June,
with a sizable gain (13,000) in heavy construction.
Construction employment has increased by 282,000 over the
year.  In June, employment in financial activities remained
on an upward trend and has increased by 151,000 over the
year.  More than half of the over-the-year gain occurred in
credit intermediation, which rose by 9,000 in June.  Real
estate also has accounted for a substantial portion of the
job growth in financial activities over the year.

     Manufacturing employment declined by 24,000 in June.
The number of factory jobs has decreased by 96,000 since
August 2004, offsetting gains posted earlier in 2004.  The
June employment decline was concentrated in motor vehicles
and parts manufacturing, where production cutbacks occurred
in assembly and parts plants.  Job losses also occurred in
electrical equipment and in paper and paper products.  In
contrast, employment in computer and electronic products
increased in June.  Both the factory workweek, at 40.4
hours, and factory overtime, at 4.4 hours, were unchanged
over the month.

     Average hourly earnings of private production or
nonsupervisory workers rose by 3 cents in June to $16.06,
following a 3-cent increase in May.  Over the year, average
hourly earnings have grown by 2.7 percent.
     
     Turning now to our survey of households, the unemploy-
ment rate has trended down in recent months.  At 5.0 percent
in June, the rate was 0.4 percentage point lower than in
February.  During the February-through-June period, the em-
ployment-population ratio increased from 62.3 to 62.7 percent.

     The number of long-term unemployed--that is, persons
unemployed for 27 weeks or more--declined to 1.3 million in
June.  They constituted 17.8 percent of all unemployed
persons, down from 20.l percent in May.
     
     In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by
146,000 in June, and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent.