FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.S.T.
                         FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 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 Standard Time.


                        Statement of
                              
                          Lois Orr
                     Acting Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                         before the
                              
                  Joint Economic Committee

                   UNITED STATES CONGRESS

                    Friday, March 8, 2002



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

     I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor
market data that we released this morning.

     We are reporting today that nonfarm payroll employment
was up by 66,000 in February, following losses that averaged
146,000 a month between the beginning of the recession in
March 2001 and January 2002.  The largest  increase occurred
in retail trade, but we suggest caution in interpreting that
figure as a sign of strength for that industry, as I will
explain in more detail later in this statement.  Aside from
retail trade, nonfarm payroll employment on net was little
changed in February.  Employment did rise in health
services, and mild weather helped boost the number of jobs
in construction.  There were employment declines in
manufacturing, mining, wholesale trade, and finance.  The
unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.5 percent.
     
     Looking in more detail at the data from our survey of
employers for February, job losses continued in
manufacturing (-50,000), although at about half the average
pace of the prior 12 months.  Employment in motor vehicle
manufacturing increased by 26,000 over the month, reversing
a decline of similar magnitude in January.  Most of the
February increase stemmed from the reopening of automobile
plants that had shut down for inventory control in January.
Still, employment in auto manufacturing is down 63,000 over
the year.  Elsewhere in transportation equipment, job losses
in aircraft manufacturing have totaled 31,000 in the last 4
months, 8,000 of which came in February.  Sizable employment
declines continued in printing and publishing
(-13,000) and in electrical equipment (-22,000).  The
February decline of 14,000 jobs in industrial machinery
employment was below the 21,000 average of the prior 12
months.  Primary metals and fabricated metals also had
smaller employment declines in February than in recent
months.  The factory workweek edged up 0.1 hour to 40.7
hours, and factory overtime was steady at 3.9 hours.

     Mining employment declined sharply in February
(-6,000), with most of the losses in oil and gas extraction.
Since last September, the oil and gas industry has lost
9,000 jobs.

     Job losses in wholesale trade (-15,000) accelerated in
February after 2 months of smaller declines.  Most of the
loss was concentrated in durable goods distribution.

     Employment in finance fell by 11,000 in February, the
first loss in this industry since last July.  Within
finance, job losses continued in security brokerages, where
employment has fallen by 45,000 since the industry's peak
last March.  Employment in mortgage brokerages was up
slightly in February.  In contrast to the decline in
finance, real estate added 5,000 jobs, its first substantial
increase since September.

     Construction employment increased by 25,000 in
February, after seasonal adjustment, partly offsetting a
large decline in January.  Unusually mild and dry weather
may have contributed to employment growth in heavy
construction (12,000) and special trade contractors (14,000)--
particularly in the weather-sensitive concrete component.
Within general building contractors, continued gains in
residential contractors offset nonresidential losses.

     In February, retail trade employment rose by 58,000
(seasonally adjusted).  Large seasonal layoffs always occur
in retail trade in January and February, following the
holiday-season employment buildup in the preceding months.
Holiday hiring in late 2001, however, was well below normal.
As a result, there were fewer workers to lay off in January
and February.  The relatively small layoffs in those 2
months appear in our data as seasonally adjusted increases,
totaling 99,000.  A clearer perspective on the industry's
trend requires a longer-term view, which shows that retail
employment is down by 142,000 since last July.

     Employment in services edged up by 40,000 in February.
Gains in December, January, and February totaled 132,000,
following losses in October and November that totaled
245,000.  In February, help supply services did not lose
jobs for the first time in nearly a year and a half.  Losses
from September 2000 through January 2002 had totaled
669,000.  Modest gains also were posted in education,
engineering and management services, and hotels.  Employment
in health services continued its strong growth trend, with
an above-average gain of 34,000 jobs in February, including
13,000 in doctors' offices and clinics.
     
     Within transportation, job losses in the passenger
component of air transportation have slowed dramatically in
the past 2 months, following a decline of 87,000 in the
fourth quarter of 2001.

     Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory
workers in the private sector rose 2 cents to $14.63 in
February.  This followed a gain of 3 cents in January (as
revised).  Hourly earnings increased by 3.7 percent from
February 2001.

     Turning to some of the measures obtained from the
survey of households, the unemployment rate was essentially
unchanged at 5.5 percent in February, as was the number of
unemployed persons, at 7.9 million.  The jobless rate for
Hispanics declined in February, while the rates for adult
men, adult women, teenagers, whites, and blacks were little
changed.  Looking at another measure of labor
underutilization, the number of part-time workers who would
have preferred full-time work rose by 255,000 to 4.2
million, following a decline in January.

     The labor force increased by 821,000, reflecting a
large increase in employment (851,000) in February and
reversing a substantial decline in January.  Both the labor
force participation rate (66.7 percent) and the employment-
population ratio (63.0 percent) rose over the month,
offsetting declines in January.

     To summarize, the jobless rate was essentially
unchanged in February at 5.5 percent.  The number of workers
on nonfarm payrolls rose slightly in February, after 6
months of losses that totaled 1.3 million.



     My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your
questions.