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                        Statement of
                              
                       Philip L. Rones
                     Deputy Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                  Friday, September 7, 2007
                              

     Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in
August (-4,000), and the unemployment rate held at 4.6
percent.  Payroll employment has grown little during the
past 3 months (44,000 per month on average), following
downward revisions to June and July estimates.  In contrast,
payroll employment growth averaged 147,000 per month for the
first 5 months of the year.  Continuing job losses in
manufacturing and construction, slower job growth in some
service-providing industries, and declines in local
government education contributed to the recent weakness in
payroll employment.

     In August, manufacturing employment fell by 46,000.
Job losses were widespread throughout the industry and
included notable declines in motor vehicles, machinery, wood
products, and semiconductors.  Construction employment
continued to trend down over the month (-22,000), with most
of the decline among residential specialty trade
contractors.  Construction employment peaked last September;
since then, 96,000 jobs have been lost.

     Employment in health care remained on a strong growth
trend in August, increasing by 35,000.  Social assistance
employment rose by 14,000.

     Over the month, employment continued to trend up in
professional and technical services (which includes
industries such as architectural services and management
consulting).  The pace of job growth in professional and
technical services has slowed to an average of 17,000 per
month in the past 3 months compared with 25,000 per month
during the first 5 months of this year.

     In the leisure and hospitality industry, food services
added 24,000 jobs in August.  Over the past 3 months,
average employment growth in food services was 21,000, down
from an average of 31,000 for the first 5 months of the
year.  Employment in accommodations has trended down over
the past 3 months.

     Employment in local government education declined by
50,000 in July and by 32,000 in August.  Employment
estimates for local government education can be volatile,
particularly during the summer months.

     Average hourly earnings for production and
nonsupervisory workers increased by 5 cents in August to
$17.50.  Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 3.9
percent.

     Turning to measures from the survey of households, the
unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.6 percent in August.
The jobless rate has remained in the narrow range of 4.4 to
4.6 percent since last September.  The unemployment rates
for the major worker groups showed little or no change in
August.

     The labor force participation rate decreased to 65.8
percent in August, largely reflecting a decline in
participation among teens.  The labor force participation
rate of teenagers declined by 1.5 percentage points to 39.7
percent.  The household survey reference period fell
relatively late this August (covering the week from Sunday,
August 12 through Saturday, August 18) and, as a result, a
larger-than-usual number of teens had left the labor force
to return to school when surveyed.  While the movement in
August may have been exaggerated by the timing of the survey
week, the labor force participation rate of teenagers had
been declining recently--from 43.4 percent in December 2006
to 41.2 percent in July 2007.

     Total employment, as measured by the household survey,
has been flat thus far in 2007.  The employment-population
ratio was 62.8 percent in August, 0.6 percentage point lower
than in December.

     In summary, nonfarm payroll employment was essentially
unchanged in August, and the unemployment rate held at 4.6
percent.