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Eastern Standard Time.


                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                   Friday, January 9, 2004
                              
                              
     Nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged (+1,000) in
December following gains totaling 277,000 in the 4 previous
months.  The unemployment rate, at 5.7 percent in December,
continued to trend down from its recent peak of 6.3 percent
in June.
     
     Over the month, job losses in retail trade and manu-
facturing were offset by small gains in several service
industries and construction.  The number of jobs in retail
trade fell by 38,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, as
hiring for the holidays was less than usual in general
merchandise stores and some other retail industries.
     
     Employment in manufacturing continued to decline in
December.  The loss of 26,000 jobs was about in line with
the average monthly decrease for September through November
(21,000) but well below the average decrease for the first 
8 months of the year (54,000).  During 2003, manufacturers
shed about half a million jobs.  In December, the average
workweek in manufacturing edged down by 0.1 hour and factory
overtime was up by 0.1 hour.
     
     Employment edged down in the transportation and ware-
housing industry over the month, largely due to a strike
in warehousing.  Banks and mortgage companies also reduced
payrolls in December, reflecting reduced mortgage
refinancing activity.
     
     Within government, seasonal hiring in the postal
service was smaller than usual, resulting in an employment
decline after seasonal adjustment.  Over the year, total
government employment was down by 88,000, reflecting
declines at the Federal and state levels.  Local government
employment was little changed over the year, compared with
gains of 182,000 in 2002 and 368,000 in 2001.

     Several industries added jobs over the month.  Employment 
in professional and business services rose by 45,000.  Within 
this industry, temporary help firms, which supply workers to 
other employers, added jobs for the 8th straight month, with 
employment increasing by 194,000 over the period.  Job growth 
continued in education and health services in December.  This 
industry gained 301,000 jobs in 2003, well below the increases 
of the prior 2 years.

     Construction employment continued on the upward trend
that began early in 2003.  Since February, the industry has
added 173,000 jobs, mostly in specialty trade contractors.
     
     Average hourly earnings for production or nonsupervisory 
workers rose by 3 cents in December after a 1 cent gain the 
prior month.  Over the 12 months ending in December, hourly 
earnings increased by 2.0 percent.

     Turning to data from our survey of households, the
number of unemployed persons, 8.4 million, and the unem-
ployment rate, 5.7 percent, continued to trend downward
in December.  Since June, the rate has declined by 0.6
percentage point, and the number of unemployed has fallen 
by 847,000.
     
     The labor force declined by 309,000 in December; the
labor force participation rate--the number of people in the
labor force as a percent of the population--declined by 0.2
percentage point to 66.0 percent.  In December 2002, the
participation rate was 66.4 percent.
     
     It should be noted that this is the month in which we
revise previously published seasonally adjusted household
survey estimates.  Data going back 5 years--to January
1999--are subject to revision.  All of the seasonally
adjusted household data in today's news release reflect
these revisions.

     In addition, beginning with this release, BLS has
converted to the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment to
produce seasonally adjusted labor force estimates from the
CPS.  Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available
monthly estimates, including those for the most current
month, in developing seasonal factors.  This is a change
from the previous practice of projecting seasonal factors
for the CPS data twice a year.  As a result of this change
in methodology, BLS will no longer project seasonal factors
for the CPS estimates.  Historical seasonally adjusted
household survey data will continue to be revised only at
the end of each calendar year.  BLS introduced the use of
concurrent seasonal adjustment for the establishment survey
data from the Current Employment Statistics program in June
2003.

     In summary, nonfarm payroll employment was flat in
December after 4 months of gains totaling 277,000.  Job
losses occurred over the month in retail trade and
manufacturing, while there were gains in temporary help
services and several other industries.  The unemployment
rate continued to trend down from its midyear high to 5.7
percent.