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                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                    Friday, April 1, 2005


     Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 110,000 in
March, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.2 percent.
Over the year, payroll employment has risen by 2.1 million,
and the unemployment rate has trended down from 5.7 percent.
     
     Several industries continued to add jobs in March,
notably construction, health care, and mining.  In
construction, employment rose by 26,000.  Since its trough 2
years earlier, employment in this industry has grown by
nearly half a million.  Most of this gain reflected strength
in the components of residential construction; however,
employment in nonresidential specialty trade contracting
also was up over the 2-year period (122,000).  In the health
care industry, employment continued to grow, increasing by
16,000 in March.  Job growth was split equally among
hospitals and ambulatory health care services.  The mining
industry added 5,000 jobs in March.  In the past 5 months,
mining employment has increased by 22,000, largely in
support activities for oil and gas operations.

     Employment expanded in a few other industries over the
month.  Wholesale trade added 15,000 jobs.  Employment
continued to trend up in food services and in credit
intermediation.
     
     In most other industries, employment was relatively
flat over the month.  Employment in both temporary help
services and retail trade was little changed in March, after
increasing in February.  Manufacturing employment also was
little changed over the month; on net, the number of factory
jobs is down slightly since last summer.  Manufacturing
hours edged down by one-tenth of an hour in March and
factory overtime was down by two-tenths of an hour.
     
     Average hourly earnings of private production or
nonsupervisory workers were up by 4 cents in March.  Over
the year, hourly earnings have increased by 2.6 percent.

     Turning to measures from the household survey, both the
number of unemployed persons, at 7.7 million, and the
unemployment rate, at 5.2 percent, declined in March.  Over
the year, the unemployment rate has trended down from 5.7
percent, reflecting declines in the jobless rates for adult
men and adult women.  The unemployment rate for teenagers
was essentially unchanged over the year.
     
     Labor force participation held steady at 65.8 percent
over the month, and was little changed from a year earlier.
The number of discouraged workers--persons who have given up
searching for work--also was essentially unchanged over the
year at about half a million.
     
     In summary, payroll employment rose by 110,000 in
March, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.2 percent.