TEXT

 
 
                              FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.
                              FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1995
 
 
 
  ___________________________________________________________
  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
                               on
                       September 1, 1995
 
 
 
 
 
 
       Good morning.  I would like to take this opportunity to
 
  offer a few remarks concerning the employment and
 
  unemployment data released this morning.
 
       Nonfarm payroll employment was up by 249,000 in August,
 
  and the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.6 percent.
 
  After a strong first quarter, growth in nonfarm employment
 
  has averaged only 100,000 per month over the past 5 months.
 
       Services accounted for much of August's increase, with
 
  a gain of 144,000 jobs.  This follows a very small pickup in
 
  the prior month.  More than half of the August growth in
 
  services came in business services, with strong job
 
  increases in its help supply and computer services
 
  components.  Help supply services had been very weak since
 
  February, following 3 years of sustained growth.  Employment
 
  in health services continued its long-term upward trend in
 
 
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  August.  Engineering and management services also posted
 
  gains; this industry has expanded markedly from early 1994
 
  onwards.
 
       Elsewhere in the service-producing sector, finance,
 
  insurance, and real estate had its strongest advance in more
 
  than a year.  Low interest rates spurred job gains in
 
  mortgage banking; security brokerage employment also rose.
 
  Transportation employment was up over the month.
 
       Retail trade employment was little changed in August,
 
  after 2 months of strong growth.  Employment in eating and
 
  drinking places was down over the month; job gains in food
 
  stores and in auto dealers and service stations partially
 
  offset that loss.
 
       Employment in government rose by 73,000, mostly at the
 
  local level.  This gain reflects, in part, a growing
 
  tendency for schools to open in August rather than
 
  September.
 
       Factory employment was about unchanged in August,
 
  following 4 months of declines.  In durable goods
 
  manufacturing, employment in electronic equipment and
 
  industrial machinery continued to trend upward.  These small
 
  gains were largely offset by declines in nondurables,
 
  particularly in apparel and in printing and publishing.  The
 
  manufacturing workweek rose two-tenths of an hour and
 
  factory overtime also edged up, though each remains
 
  substantially below its January peak.
 
                               -3-
 
 
 
 
       Average hourly earnings of private production or
 
  nonsupervisory workers fell by 2 cents in August, after
 
  rising by 6 cents in each of the preceding 2 months.  The
 
  average increase in hourly earnings of 2-1/2 cents a month
 
  so far this year is about the same as the monthly average
 
  for 1994.
 
       Turning to data from the household survey, the overall
 
  unemployment rate was about unchanged in August at 5.6
 
  percent and, indeed, has shown very little movement since
 
  April.  The seasonally adjusted estimates of the labor force
 
  and total employment also were little different from their
 
  July levels.
 
       The number of persons with a marginal attachment to the
 
  labor force was about 1.5 million in August.  Of these,
 
  410,000 were not in the labor force because of
 
  discouragement over job prospects.  These figures have been
 
  lower this year than last.
 
       In summary, payroll employment was up in August, with
 
  marked growth in services and manufacturing faring better
 
  than in recent months.  The unemployment rate, at 5.6
 
  percent, has shown little change over the past 4 months.
 
 
 
       My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your
 
  questions.