FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.S.T.
                         FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2004

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, March 5, 2004
                              
                              

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:


     I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor
market data that we released this morning.
     
     Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in
February (+21,000), as the number of jobs held steady in
most major industries.  Since August 2003, total payroll
employment has risen by 364,000.  The unemployment rate was
5.6 percent, unchanged over the month but down from its
recent peak in June 2003.
     
     Turning first to our payroll survey data, construction
employment declined in February (-24,000) following an
increase (+34,000) in January.  Taking a longer view,
employment in construction has trended upward since March of
last year; over the period, 123,000 jobs have been added.
     
     Employment in manufacturing basically was unchanged in
February (-3,000).  The rate of job loss in our Nation's
factories has moderated quite a bit since last summer.  The
improvement has been more pronounced in durable goods
manufacturing.  In fact, employment in a few durable goods
industries, such as fabricated metals and wood products, is
up slightly in recent months.  For manufacturing overall,
the factory workweek edged up in February to 41.0 hours, and
overtime hours were unchanged at 4.5 hours.  Both measures
are up substantially since last summer.
     
     Also within the goods-producing sector, mining employment 
continued to trend slowly upward in February; oil and gas ex-
traction has accounted for much of the recent growth.
     
     None of the major segments of the service-providing
sector showed a significant employment change in February.
Wholesale trade employment was unchanged following 3 months
of growth.  Among retailers overall, there has been no net
job growth since the onset of the holiday shopping season
last fall.  Employment in a few retail components continued
to edge up in February, notably building material and garden
supply stores.  Employment was essentially flat in financial
activities in February, although the securities component
continued to add jobs.  Employment in securities is up by
18,000 since August.  Credit intermediation, which includes
mortgage banking, has lost 22,000 jobs over the same period.
     
     The job total in information was little changed in
February; employment declines in the industry have eased
since last fall.  As with other industries, this represents
somewhat of an improvement, given that the information
sector had lost 15 percent of its jobs between March 2001
and October 2003.

     There was little employment change in professional and
business services overall in February.  Within the sector,
temporary help services added 32,000 jobs over the month.
With the exception of a small decline in January, employment
in temporary help has been climbing steadily since April
2003.  Over the period, there has been a net gain of 215,000
jobs.
     
     Employment in health care and social assistance continued 
to trend upward in February.  However, the average gain for the 
first 2 months of this year has been about half the average monthly 
increase for 2003.  Hospital employment declined over the month, 
while there was a job gain in social assistance, largely in child 
day care services.
     
     Employment in State government rose by 20,000 over the
month and has trended up since last summer.  Over the same
period, employment is down in local government.

     Average hourly earnings for private production or
nonsupervisory workers rose by 3 cents in February.  Over
the 12 months ending in February, hourly earnings increased
by 1.6 percent.
     
     Taking a look at some of the measures obtained from our
survey of households, the unemployment rate was unchanged at
5.6 percent in February.  The number of unemployed persons
also was little changed at about 8.2 million.  Both measures
are below their recent highs of June 2003.  Jobless rates
for major worker groups either remained the same or showed
little movement over the month.
     
     The labor force participation rate fell to 65.9 percent
in February, reflecting a steep drop-off in the number of
men in the labor force.  The employment-population ratio was
down over the month to 62.2 percent; it held at or near that
level for most of 2003.
     
     The number of persons working part time who would have
preferred full-time employment declined over the month to
4.4 million.  It had been at about 4.8 million during the
last several months.
     
     Among those not in the labor force, the number of
discouraged workers--those who have stopped seeking work
because of discouragement over their job prospects--was
484,000 in February, about the same as a year earlier but
well above the levels that existed prior to the recent
recession.
     
     In summary, nonfarm payroll employment was little
changed in February as the job totals in most industries
held steady, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6
percent.

     My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your
questions.