FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.
                         FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2002

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the
press under lock-up conditions with the explicit
understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Daylight Time.

                        Statement of
                              
                          Lois Orr
                     Acting Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                         before the
                             
                  Joint Economic Committee
                              
                   UNITED STATES CONGRESS
                              
                    Friday, June 7, 2002


Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

     I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the May
employment and unemployment data that we released this
morning.
     
     Both the unemployment rate, at 5.8 percent, and nonfarm
payroll employment, at 130.7 million, were little changed in
May.  In 2001, the unemployment rate trended up,
particularly following the terrorist attacks in September.
Thus far this year, however, the trend has been less clear.
     
     Over the month, the jobless rate for blacks fell a full
percentage point to 10.2 percent, and the rate for Hispanics
declined by nearly a percentage point to 7.0 percent.  Even
though the unemployment level was about unchanged, the
number of long-term unemployed (those jobless 27 weeks and
longer) continued to rise over the month, by 142,000.  The
number of long-term unemployed, at 1.6 million, comprised
about 20 percent of total unemployment in May, nearly twice
its proportion a year earlier.
     
     Turning to the data from our establishment survey,
nonfarm employment was little changed in May (+ 41,000).
Manufacturing employment declined by a monthly average of
112,000 during the year ending in January 2002.  Since then,
losses have slowed, and, for April and May, the average
decline was down to 21,000.  In May, job losses continued in
computer equipment, electronic equipment, instruments,
textiles, apparel, paper products, and printing and
publishing.  The factory workweek was unchanged at 40.9
hours, and factory overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 4.3
hours.
     
     Following a large job loss in April, construction
employment was flat over the month.  Since March 2001, the
number of construction jobs has declined by 3.6 percent,
substantially less than the declines posted in recent labor
market downturns.

     Within the service-producing sector, employment in
services rose by 68,000 in May, the third consecutive
monthly job gain, following a year with no net job growth.
Help supply employment rose by 25,000 in May, and has risen
by 126,000 over the past 3 months. It had declined by
806,000 during the prior year and a half.  Engineering and
management services also showed strength in May, adding
23,000 jobs.  Health services employment rose by 16,000 over
the month, about the same as in April, but at a far slower
pace than in the prior year.  For the 12-month period ending
in March, job growth had averaged 26,000 per month.
Employment in hotels and lodging places posted a large
decline in May, the second consecutive month of job losses.
     
     Retail trade employment was little changed in May,
despite a loss of 33,000 jobs in eating and drinking places.
Offsetting some of this decline, several retail industries
posted small job gains.  Employment in each of the other
major private-sector industries--wholesale trade,
transportation and public utilities, and finance, insurance,
and real estate--was unchanged in May.
     
     Within government, employment rose by 31,000 in local
government, mostly in education, and declined by 12,000 in
the noneducation component of state government.
     
     Average hourly earnings for production or
nonsupervisory workers in the nonfarm private sector rose by
3 cents in May to $14.70.  Wage gains have been somewhat
smaller so far this year than during 2001.  Over the year,
average hourly earnings were up 3.2 percent.

     In accordance with our standard practice, the payroll
survey figures this month incorporate regularly scheduled
annual benchmark revisions.  The benchmarking process
involves revising our sample-based employment estimates with
information from a full universe count of employment derived
from unemployment insurance tax records for March 2001.
     
     The March 2001 benchmark revision was a downward
adjustment of 123,000 or one-tenth of one percent.
Subsequent months also revised downward, to incorporate a
number of other adjustments.  By April 2002, the last month
of the revision period, the employment level was 501,000 or
four-tenths of one percent lower than the previously
published unadjusted level.  There is no benchmark source
for hours and earnings data, but these series also may be
affected by the benchmark process because of changes in the
industry employment weights and the introduction of new
seasonal factors.
     
     The downward adjustment of 123,000, or about one-tenth
of one percent of the total nonfarm employment level, is
slightly less than the average revision for the prior 10-
year period.  Payroll employment estimates for the post-
benchmark period, April 2001 forward, have been revised to
incorporate the new benchmark levels as well as revised
seasonal adjustment factors, bias factors, birth/death
models, and annual sample updates.
     
     In addition to the routine benchmark revision, all
estimates for transportation and public utilities and the
finance, insurance, and real estate industry from April 2000
forward have been revised to incorporate a new sample
design.  The employment estimates for retail trade from
April 2001 forward also incorporate the new sample design.
These industries are the third group of industries to
convert to a probability-based sample under a 4-year phase-
in plan for the Current Employment Statistics survey sample-
redesign project.  The phase-in will conclude in June 2003
with the introduction of the services industries and the
conversion to the North American Industrial Classification
System (NAICS).

     In summary, payroll employment remained essentially
flat for the third month in a row, and the unemployment
rate, at 5.8 percent in May, was little changed over the
month.
     
     
     
     My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your
questions.