TEXT

 
 
 
                             FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.
                             FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1994
 
 
 
 ___________________________________________________________
 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 time.  ____________________________________________
 
 
                         Statement of
 
                     Katharine G. Abraham
                         Commissioner
                  Bureau of Labor Statistics
 
                          before the
 
                   JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE
 
                    UNITED STATES CONGRESS
 
                       October 7, 1994
 
 
 
 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
 
      I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the
 
 employment and unemployment data released earlier this
 
 morning.
 
      Payroll employment rose by 239,000 in September, about
 
 the same as in August (as revised).  The unemployment rate,
 
 at 5.9 percent in September, declined over the month and has
 
 dropped 0.8 percentage point since January.
 
      As is typical, the services industry accounted for much
 
 of the employment growth over the month, adding 101,000 jobs
 
 in September.  About half of this increase occurred in
 
 business services.  Over the past year, employment in the
 
 
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 services industry has expanded by 1.6 million, making up
 
 half of total nonfarm job growth.
 
      Employment in retail trade also expanded in September
 
 with an increase of 40,000, and transportation and public
 
 utilities added 17,000 jobs.  In State and local
 
 governments, factors contributing to an over-the-month
 
 employment increase of 63,000 included increases in State
 
 higher education to cope with rising enrollments and hiring
 
 of temporary election workers by local governments.
 
      In the goods-producing sector of the economy,
 
 construction employment resumed its upward trend in
 
 September with an increase of 19,000, after pausing in
 
 August.  The industry has added 293,000 jobs over the past
 
 year, mostly among special trades contractors.
 
      In contrast, employment in manufacturing held steady in
 
 September, following an increase of 39,000 in the prior
 
 month.  Since its most recent low point last September,
 
 manufacturing has expanded slowly, adding 147,000 jobs.  The
 
 manufacturing workweek and overtime hours remained at very
 
 high levels in September, as production workers averaged
 
 42.0 hours per week with 4.6 hours of overtime.  Both the
 
 factory workweek and overtime hours have been at about these
 
 levels since early this year.
 
      Returning to the data from our survey of households,
 
 the unemployment rate moved down to 5.9 percent in September
 
 after holding at either 6.0 or 6.1 percent from May to
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 August.  The improvement occurred primarily among adult men,
 
 whose jobless rate slipped to 5.1 percent.  The jobless rate
 
 for white workers was 5.1 percent, compared to 10.7 percent
 
 for blacks and 10.2 percent for Hispanics.
 
      The number of unemployed persons declined to 7.7
 
 million in September, with much of the decrease occurring
 
 among persons on temporary layoff who expected to be called
 
 back to work.  About 800,000 persons were on temporary
 
 layoff in September, compared with some 2.8 million persons
 
 who had lost their jobs or completed temporary jobs and did
 
 not expect to be recalled by their employers.  There were
 
 also 3.2 million unemployed persons who had either entered
 
 the job market for the first time or who had reentered after
 
 a period of absence, and about 900,000 persons who had
 
 voluntarily left their jobs to look for other employment.
 
      The number of workers on part-time schedules for
 
 economic reasons--persons employed part time even though
 
 they wanted (and were available for) full-time work--held at
 
 4.3 million in September.  There has been some gradual
 
 improvement in this measure in recent months.
 
      Since January, we have been collecting information on
 
 persons not in the labor force who want and are available
 
 for work and have looked for jobs sometime in the prior
 
 year.  In September, this group totaled 1.9 million persons
 
 (not seasonally adjusted).  The more familiar discouraged
 
                              -4-
 
 
 
 
 worker group--which is a component of the larger category
 
 just described--totaled just over half a million.
 
      I would also like to note that the household survey
 
 showed an employment increase of about 460,000 in September,
 
 following an even larger increase in the prior month.  This
 
 raises the net change in household employment since January
 
 to 1.7 million, which compares with an increase of about 2.4
 
 million jobs over the January-September period registered by
 
 our survey of establishments.
 
      In summary, the labor market continued to improve in
 
 September, as employment rose in both of our surveys and
 
 unemployment declined.
 
 
 
      My colleagues and I now will be happy to answer any
 
 questions you may have.