FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.
                            FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1997


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

Katharine G. Abraham
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, October 3, 1997




	Good morning.  I am pleased to have this opportunity 
to comment on the employment and unemployment data that 
were released this morning.  
The unemployment rate was unchanged in September at 
4.9 percent.  Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 215,000, 
buoyed by the return of striking transportation workers.
	The August strike involved workers in the air 
transportation industry, where employment fell by 172,000 
in August and rebounded by 166,000 in September.  Trucking 
companies added 18,000 workers over the past two months, in 
part reflecting increased demand for their services in the 
wake of the strike.    
Employment in the services industry rose by 98,000, 
about the average pace for the year to date.  Business 
services added 46,000 jobs, reflecting continued strength 
in computer services and a gain in help supply services, 
only the second in that industry since March.  Rapid job 
growth continued in engineering and management services 
(14,000), and health services (19,000) sustained its 
average growth pace for the year to date.  On the other 
hand, strong early summer hiring resulted in more job 
reductions than usual in September in amusements and 
recreation and less hiring than usual in child day care.   
Employment in finance continued to grow, but insurance 
payrolls declined after five months of small gains.  Retail 
trade job growth in both August and September was below its 
average for the year, following a surge from April to July.  
Employment growth in wholesale trade (10,000) also was 
slightly below its average.
 Mining, which has had a long-term declining 
employment trend, added 3,000 jobs in September.  The gain 
was due mainly to the strength of oil and gas extraction, 
which has added 6,000 jobs so far this year.  
In government, there was a particularly large drop in 
local education, where changes in the school calendar 
continue to make precise seasonal adjustment problematic.  
Taking a longer term view, local public schools have added 
about 170,000 workers in each of the last two years, 
compared with an average of 107,000 over the five prior 
years.  Continuing losses in Federal employment included 
declines in September among postal workers hired 
temporarily during the air transportation strike.  
Manufacturing payrolls declined by 16,000, following a 
large increase in August.  Automobile factory employment 
fell by 14,000, reflecting the temporary closing of several 
plants for inventory adjustment.  There was a particularly 
large job loss in apparel manufacturing.  Employment 
continued to increase in electronic components.   
Construction employment was essentially unchanged in 
September.  Growth in construction payrolls has slowed 
dramatically since May.   
Average hourly earnings of production or 
nonsupervisory workers rose by 4 cents in September and 
totaled 11 cents over the third quarter.  Over the year, 
hourly earnings rose by 3.6 percent.  The average workweek 
fell by 0.1 hour in September after rising by 0.2 hour in 
August.  Both the factory workweek and factory overtime 
were unchanged at 41.9 and 4.7 hours, respectively.   
Turning to data from the household survey, the 
unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent, and the 
number of unemployed persons was little changed at 6.8 
million.  Civilian employment also was little changed at 
129.7 million.  Since the end of last year, employment has 
grown by about 1.6 million (after adjusting for the effect 
of revised estimates of the size of the working-age 
population introduced in January), although little change 
has been registered since May.
	In summary, payroll employment increased modestly in 
September, after accounting for returning strikers.  Hourly 
earnings gains in the third quarter (11 cents) were 
comparable to those of the prior four quarters.  The 
unemployment rate has been within a tenth of a percentage 
point of its current level, 4.9 percent, since April.   
	
	My colleagues and I now would be glad to respond to 
your questions.  
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