TEXT

 
 
 
                                FOR DELIVERY:  9:30 A.M., E.S.T.
                                FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1996
 
 
 
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 time.
 
 
 
                        Statement of
 
                    Katharine G. Abraham
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
 
                         before the
 
                  Joint Economic Committee
 
                   UNITED STATES CONGRESS
 
                        March 8, 1996
 
 
 
 
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
        I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the labor
market data released this morning.
        Nonfarm payroll employment jumped by 705,000 in
February, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent,
down from 5.8 percent in January.  The jobless rate has
fluctuated between 5.4 percent and 5.8 percent since the
last quarter of 1994.
        The 705,000 rise in payroll employment followed a
decline of 188,000 in January.  The January decline
reflected the severe weather in that month.  Viewing
Februarys large increase together with Januarys decline
yields an average monthly gain of 259,000.
        The largest increase in employment over the month was
in the services industry (287,000).  January's weather-
related declines in private education and amusement and
recreation services were reversed.  Health services added
46,000 jobs in February following almost no increase in
January; over the two months combined, the pace of growth in
the industry was in line with its long-term trend.  Business
services rebounded from January's job decline (31,000) with
a gain of 126,000 in February.  Much of this rise was due to
the addition of 79,000 jobs in help supply services, which
more than offset the January decline in that industry.  Help
supply services added an average of 27,000 workers per month
between December and February, considerably more than the
monthly average for all of 1995.  Elsewhere in business
services, computing and data processing services continued
to show strength; employment also rose in services to
buildings, boosted in part by the return to work of about
13,000 strikers.
        Construction added 121,000 jobs in February.  This
increase reflects some real strength in the industry, but
also the impact of severe weather on the recent pattern of
layoffs and hires.
        Retail trade gained 166,000 jobs in February, following
a decline of 60,000 jobs in the prior month.  Much of the
gain was in eating and drinking establishments, which had
been particularly hard-hit by Januarys storms.  The growth
in employment in department stores, on a seasonally adjusted
basis, reflected the fact that there were fewer-than-
expected layoffs in January and February, following weak
holiday hiring.
        Total government employment rose by 42,000 in February,
more than offsetting the January losses.  Employment in
State education, local education, and other local government
agencies increased.  Partly offsetting these gains was the
continued decline in Federal government employment.
        Manufacturing added 26,000 jobs in February, but this
represents only a partial return to work of employees who
had been off payrolls in January.  Electronic components
continued to be the only industry with a steady growth
trend, while most of the other manufacturing industries
recovered only part of their January job losses.  The
factory workweek and factory overtime also recovered from
their January declines, reaching 41.6 and 4.5 hours,
respectively.
        Turning to data from the household survey, both the
number unemployed and the unemployment rate fell in
February.  The number of jobless persons declined by 322,000
to fewer than 7.4 million, and the unemployment rate was
down three-tenths of a percentage point to 5.5 percent.
Unemployment rates declined for both adult women and
teenagers.  Like the overall unemployment rate, however, the
rates for all the major worker groups have been fluctuating
within relatively narrow bands for some time.
        Before my colleagues and I take your questions, I would
like to mention two items concerning our household data.
First, the revised, seasonally adjusted data series from the
household survey that normally accompany the release of the
December figures are now available.  These revised estimates
were delayed because of the federal shutdown and the work
time lost during the January blizzard.  In addition to
recalculating the estimates based on updated seasonal
factors, we also have revised the estimates for 1990 through
1993 using 1990 census-based population controls adjusted
for the estimated undercount.  The new population controls
previously had been used in the estimation process only for
the data from January 1994 forward.
        Second, as we announced last fall, we are reintroducing
to our press release this month a table showing a range of
alternative indicators of labor underutilization.  A set of
alternative indicators had been published for many years.
Their publication was temporarily suspended when the revised
household survey questionnaire was introduced in January
1994.  The new set of measures takes advantage of the
improved data from the revised survey.  It is worth noting
that, although their levels differ, the historical movements
in these measures generally have closely followed those of
the official unemployment rate.
        In summary, there was a substantial gain in payroll
employment in February following Januarys weather-related
decline.  The unemployment rate fell back to 5.5 percent.
 
My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your
questions.