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                          Statement of

                        Erica L. Groshen
                          Commissioner
                   Bureau of Labor Statistics

                     Friday, August 2, 2013



     Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in July, and
the unemployment rate edged down to 7.4 percent. Over the prior
12-month period, job gains averaged 189,000 per month. In July,
employment rose in retail trade, food services, financial
activities, and wholesale trade.

     Retail trade employment grew by 47,000 over the month. Job
gains were widespread in the industry. Food services and drinking
places added 38,000 jobs in July and 381,000 over the year.
Employment in financial activities increased by 15,000 in July,
due in part to job gains in the securities industry. Wholesale
trade continued to show steady job growth, with a gain of 14,000.
Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, professional and
business services employment continued to trend up (+36,000).

     Health care employment was essentially unchanged over the
month. Thus far in 2013, job growth in health care has averaged
16,000 per month, compared with an average monthly increase of
27,000 in 2012. Employment in other major industries also was
little changed in July.

     Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls edged down by 2 cents in July, following an increase of
10 cents in June. Over the past 12 months, average hourly
earnings have risen by 44 cents, or 1.9 percent. In comparison,
the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose by
1.8 percent from June 2012 to June 2013.

     Turning now to measures from the survey of households, the
unemployment rate edged down to 7.4 percent in July. The jobless
rate is down from 8.2 percent a year ago. There were 11.5 million
people unemployed in July, a decline of 1.2 million from a year
earlier.

     The labor force participation rate, at 63.4 percent, was
little changed in July and has shown little movement, on net,
thus far this year. Since the end of the recent recession, labor
force participation generally has been on a downward trend.

     In July, the employment-population ratio held at 58.7
percent. This measure has been essentially flat since late 2009.
Among the employed, there were 8.2 million involuntary part-time
workers in July, essentially unchanged over the month and over
the year.

     Among people neither working nor looking for work in July,
2.4 million were considered marginally attached to the labor
force, little changed from a year earlier. The marginally
attached are those who had not looked for work in the 4 weeks
prior to survey, but they wanted and were available for work, and
had looked for a job within the last 12 months. Of the marginally
attached, 988,000 were classified as discouraged workers in July,
up from 852,000 in July 2012. Discouraged workers are those who
stopped searching for work because they believed no jobs were
available for them.

     In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000
in July, and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.4 percent.