FOR DELIVERY:  9:30 A.M., E.S.T.
                         FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2005

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 Standard Time.


                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                         Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                         before the
                              
                  Joint Economic Committee
                              
                   UNITED STATES CONGRESS
                              
                  Friday, November 4, 2005



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

     I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor
market data we released this morning.

     Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in
October (+56,000), and the jobless rate was 5.0 percent.
Payroll employment was flat in September (-8,000, as
revised).
     
     Before discussing the payroll survey data in detail, I
would note that the October estimates were prepared using
the same modified procedures that we introduced in September
to better gauge employment developments in areas affected by
Hurricane Katrina.  We will continue to evaluate our data
collection and estimating procedures and will resume
standard survey operations when it is appropriate.

     You will recall that in our analysis of the September
employment data, we concluded that the weakness was largely
due to the job loss in areas devastated by Hurricane
Katrina.  This conclusion was based on an estimate of the
change in payroll employment excluding all of the sample
units in the disaster areas.  That exercise showed that job
growth outside the disaster areas was in line with the
average monthly increase for the nation as a whole during
the prior year (about 200,000).  We did a similar exercise
for October and concluded that the relatively weak increase
was not attributable to the areas directly affected by
Katrina.  Rather, job growth in the remainder of the country
appeared to be below trend in October.  In addition, the
direct impact of Hurricane Rita on the national employment
data for October was judged to be minimal.  It is possible,
of course, that employment growth for the nation could have
been held down by indirect effects of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita, for example, because of their impact on gas prices.
(Hurricane Wilma made landfall after the October survey
reference period.)

     Turning to the national developments by industry,
leisure and hospitality employment edged down in October.
This followed a substantial decline in September, at least
some of which was hurricane related.  Employment in retail
trade was basically unchanged in October after a large
decline in September.  In addition, there was little job
growth in professional and business services in October; the
number of jobs in its temporary help component showed little
movement over the month.

     A few major industries posted notable job gains in
October.  Employment in the construction industry rose by
33,000 over the month, compared with average growth of about
21,000 jobs per month during the first 9 months of the year.
Some of the October gain reflects post-hurricane rebuilding
and clean-up efforts.  Employment in financial activities
continued to increase, rising by 22,000; about half of this
gain occurred in credit intermediation.  Employment in
health care and social assistance also continued to expand
in October, rising by 23,000.

     Elsewhere in the economy, employment in the information
industry fell by 15,000 over the month, mostly because of a
large decline in motion pictures and sound recording.

     Factory employment edged up in October because of
the return of aerospace workers from a strike.  The
manufacturing workweek rose by an unusually large amount,
0.4 hour; increases in the factory workweek occurred
throughout most of the component industries.
     
     Average hourly earnings of private production or non-
supervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8
cents in October to $16.27, following a 2-cent increase in
September.  Over the year, average hourly earnings were up
by 2.9 percent.

     Looking at some major household survey indicators, the
jobless rate was 5.0 percent in October.  The unemployment
rate basically has held steady since May of this year.  Both
the labor force participation rate and employment-population
ratio were little changed in October, at 66.1 percent and
62.9 percent, respectively.

     I'd also like to discuss some preliminary findings
on the employment status of persons directly affected by
Hurricane Katrina.  Shortly after the hurricane struck,
Bureau analysts, together with our colleagues at the Census
Bureau, devised a short series of hurricane-related
questions for inclusion in the October Current Population
Survey.  These questions were designed to identify and
solicit information from survey respondents who had
evacuated from their homes, even temporarily, because of
Hurricane Katrina.

     It is important to note that the estimates based on
these questions are not representative of all evacuees, but
only those who were interviewed through normal household
survey procedures.  Some evacuees reside outside the scope
of the survey, such as those currently living in hotels or
shelters.

     Based on information collected from CPS-sampled house-
holds, there were about 800,000 persons age 16 and over
who had evacuated from where they were living in August due
to Hurricane Katrina.  About 300,000 of these persons had
returned to the home from which they had evacuated, and the
remaining 500,000 had not returned to their August residence.
     
     Of the 800,000 evacuees, 55.7 percent were in the labor
force in October, and their unemployment rate was 24.5
percent.  The jobless rate among those who have not been
able to return home (33.4 percent) was substantially higher
than the rate for those who had returned to their August
place of residence (10.5 percent).  Again, these figures do
not reflect the situation of persons still residing in
shelters, hotels, or other places out of the scope of the
household survey.
     
     Even with their limitations, we believe that these data
provide useful information about the employment status of
those persons affected by Hurricane Katrina.  As people make
the transition to more permanent housing, the estimates may
become more representative of the situation of all evacuees.
We plan to keep these special Katrina-related questions in
the survey at least through January 2006.
     
     Summarizing labor market developments for October,
nonfarm payroll employment was little changed over the
month, and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent.


     My colleagues and I now would be glad to address your
questions.