FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T. 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2002 

 

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 

Kathleen P. Utgoff 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

before the 

Joint Economic Committee 

UNITED STATES CONGRESS 

Friday, October 4, 2002 

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, at 130.9 million, was 

essentially unchanged (down 43,000) in September, after 

increasing by 107,000 in August (as revised). From April 

through August, nonfarm payroll employment growth had 

averaged 54,000 a month. September job losses were 

concentrated in manufacturing and transportation. 

Employment in health services and in finance, insurance, 

and real estate rose over the month. The unemployment 
2

rate, at 5.6 percent in September, was about the same as in 

August. 

Looking in more detail at the data from our survey of 

employers for September, job losses continued in 

manufacturing (-35,000). The industry lost almost 100,000 

jobs in August and September combined, after losing a total 

of 80,000 in the prior 4 months. In September, job losses 

were concentrated in durable goods manufacturing, with the 

largest declines in electrical equipment, transportation 

equipment, and industrial machinery. In nondurable goods, 

an employment increase in food products more than offset a 

loss in apparel. The manufacturing workweek in September, 

at 40.9 hours, was unchanged over the month, while factory 

overtime edged down by one-tenth of an hour to 4.1 hours. 

Employment in transportation and public utilities fell 

by 32,000 in September, with most of the decline occurring 

in transportation. Trucking had an unusually large 

employment decline in September (-17,000). Air 

transportation lost 12,000 jobs over the month. Employment 

in the industry has shown no clear trend so far this year, 

following losses totaling 132,000 in the last 4 months of 

2001. 
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Finance, insurance, and real estate added 16,000 jobs 

over the month. Most of September increase was in finance, 

primarily in mortgage bankers and brokers. 

Employment in other major private-sector industries 

was little changed in September. For the services 

industry, September had the smallest job gain (+28,000) in 

a string of increases that dates back to March. In 

September, job gains in health services and engineering and 

management services were partly offset by job losses in 

amusement and recreation services. The Federal government 

continued to add workers in the Transportation Security 

Administration. 

Average hourly earnings of production or 

nonsupervisory workers in the private sector rose by 5 

cents to $14.87 in September. Over the year, hourly 

earnings increased by 3.0 percent. 

Turning to data from our survey of households, both 

the number of unemployed persons, at 8.1 million, and the 

unemployment rate, at 5.6 percent, showed no statistically 

significant change in September. The jobless rates for all 

the major worker groups——adult men, adult women, teenagers, 

whites, blacks, and Hispanics——were essentially the same as 

in August. 
4

In summary, payroll employment was little changed in 

September. The unemployment rate, at 5.6 percent, was 

about the same as in the prior month. 

My colleagues and I would be glad to answer any 

questions you might have.