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
                              
                    Friday, March 4, 2005


     Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 262,000 in February,
with job gains occurring across a range of industries.  The
unemployment rate returned to 5.4 percent in February after
dipping to 5.2 percent in January.
     
     Employment in professional and business services
increased by 81,000 in February.  Within this sector,
temporary help services added 30,000 jobs over the month,
following 3 months in which employment was little changed.
Since its most recent low in April 2003, employment in this
industry has grown by 374,000.  Elsewhere among professional
and business services industries in February, employment was
up in architectural and engineering services and in services
to buildings and dwellings.
     
     Several other industries in the service-providing
sector contributed to the overall employment gain in
February.  The health care industry continued to expand,
adding 23,000 jobs.  Food services employment also remained
on its growth trend, increasing by 27,000.  Retail
employment was up by 30,000 over the month.  In the
financial activities sector, employment in credit
intermediation and in real estate continued to trend up.
     
     In February, construction employment rose by 30,000,
following no gain in the prior month.  Job growth in
construction was likely subdued in January due to unusually
severe weather conditions in some parts of the country.
Over the last year, construction employment growth averaged
23,000 per month.
     
     Manufacturing employment was up by 20,000 in February;
much of this increase reflected automotive workers returning
from temporary layoffs.  A few other manufacturing
industries had small job gains in February.  Overall,
manufacturing employment was up slightly over the year;
however, it has shown little net change since mid-2004.  In
February, factory hours were down by two-tenths of an hour,
while overtime edged up by one-tenth of an hour.
     
     Average hourly earnings of private production or
nonsupervisory workers were flat in February, following a 5-
cent increase in January.  Over the year, average hourly
earnings increased by 2.5 percent.
     
     Most labor market measures from the survey of
households were little changed in February.  The
unemployment rate edged up to 5.4 percent over the month,
returning to its December level.  The jobless rate was
either 5.4 or 5.5 percent in each of last 6 months of 2004.
The labor force participation rate held at 65.8 percent in
February and was about the same as a year earlier.
     
     Among those who were not in the labor force, the number
who were marginally attached to the job market, at 1.7
million in February, was little changed over the year.
About half a million of this group cited discouragement
about their job prospects as their reason for discontinuing
their job search.  This also was about the same level as a
year earlier.
     
     In summary, payroll employment rose by 262,000 in
February and by 2.4 million over the past year.  The
unemployment rate was 5.4 percent, essentially the same as
in the last half of 2004.