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                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                  Friday, September 3, 2004


     Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 144,000 in
August, with job gains in several service-providing
industries.  The unemployment rate, at 5.4 percent, was
little changed over the month.  Since its recent low point
in August 2003, nonfarm payroll employment has grown by
about 1.7 million.  A little more than half of that growth
occurred from March through May of this year.  During that
period, job gains averaged nearly 300,000 per month; growth
slowed in June and July (+96,000 and +73,000, as revised).

     Hurricane Charley struck Florida during the August
survey reference period.  BLS made additional data
collection efforts for the hurricane-affected counties to
ensure that payroll survey response rates were at normal
levels.  Our examination of the survey data suggests that
there were no discernable weather-related effects on
national employment as measured by the establishment survey.
This was likely due to the fact that the storm hit late in
the reporting period for most of our survey respondents.
For the storm to have affected payroll employment, people
would have had to have been off work for an entire pay
period and not paid for the time missed.  (In the household
survey, people who miss work for weather-related events are
counted as employed whether or not they are paid for the
time off.)
     
     In August, health care and social assistance employment
rose by 42,000.  Over the year, this sector has added
307,000 jobs, representing nearly one-fifth of overall
nonfarm job growth during this period.  In the health care
component, the August increase included gains in both
hospitals and ambulatory health care services (such as
doctors' offices and outpatient care centers).  The over-the-
month employment increase in social assistance followed no
net job gain over the prior 3 months.

     Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment
in computer systems design services and in rental and
leasing increased over the month.  Securities and
commodities brokerages also added jobs in August.
Employment in the credit intermediation industry, which
includes mortgage brokers, was little changed following a
small decline in July.  Temporary help payrolls remained
relatively flat for the third straight month.  From April
2003 to May 2004, this industry added 293,000 jobs.

     In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing employment
was up by 22,000 in August, but this increase mostly
reflected auto workers returning to work from the larger-
than-usual annual retooling shutdowns in July.  Employment
in other manufacturing industries showed little change in
August; factory hours and overtime were flat.

     Construction employment edged up in August, following
little change in June and July.  Employment in mining was
about unchanged over the month.

     Average hourly earnings of private production or
nonsupervisory workers rose by 5 cents over the month,
following a 6-cent increase in July, as revised.  Over the
year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.3 percent.

     Most measures from our household survey showed little
change in August.  The unemployment rate, at 5.4 percent,
and the number of unemployed persons, at 8.0 million, were
little changed over the month.  The unemployment rate is
down from its recent high of 6.3 percent in June 2003; most
of this decline occurred in the second half of last year.
     
     Labor force participation edged down over the month
following an increase in July.  The labor force participation 
rate has been at or near 66.0 percent since late last year.
     
     To summarize the August labor market developments,
nonfarm payroll employment increased by 144,000, and the
unemployment rate was little changed at 5.4 percent.