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under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that 
the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.


                            Statement of

                          Erica L. Groshen
                            Commissioner
                     Bureau of Labor Statistics
                       Friday, August 1, 2014



      Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 209,000 in July, and the 
unemployment rate was little changed at 6.2 percent. Over the 
month, employment increased in professional and business 
services, manufacturing, retail trade, and construction.
      
      Incorporating the revisions for May and June, which 
increased total nonfarm employment by 15,000, monthly job gains 
have averaged 245,000 over the past 3 months. In the 12 months 
prior to July, employment growth averaged 209,000 per month.
      
      Professional and business services employment rose by 
47,000 in July. Employment continued to trend up across much of 
the industry, including a gain of 9,000 in architectural and 
engineering services. Over the year, employment in professional 
and business services has expanded by 648,000.
      
      Manufacturing employment rose by 28,000 in July, with 
increases in motor vehicles and parts (+15,000) and in furniture 
(+3,000).
      
      Employment in retail trade rose by 27,000 in July, with 
small gains spread through much of the industry. In the past 12 
months, retail trade has added 298,000 jobs.
      
      Construction employment increased by 22,000 in July, with 
residential builders contributing 6,000 of the gain. Elsewhere 
in the goods-producing sector, mining employment rose by 8,000.  
      
      Employment in social assistance was up by 18,000 in July. 
(This industry includes child day care and services for the 
elderly and persons with disabilities.) Health care employment 
changed little over the month, as job gains in ambulatory health 
care services (+21,000) were largely offset by losses in 
hospitals (-7,000) and nursing care facilities (-6,000).
      
      Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 
payrolls edged up by 1 cent to $24.45 in July, following an 
increase of 6 cents in June. Over the 12 months ending in July, 
average hourly earnings rose by 2.0 percent. From June 2013 to 
June 2014, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 
(CPI-U) increased by 2.1 percent.  
      
      Turning to the data from the survey of households, the 
unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in July, little changed over 
the month but down from 7.3 percent a year earlier. 
      
      There were 9.7 million unemployed persons in July, little 
different from June. Over the year, the number of unemployed has 
fallen by 1.7 million. Almost two-thirds of this decline has 
been among the long-term unemployed (those looking for work for 
27 weeks or more).
      
      The labor force participation rate, at 62.9 percent, 
changed little in July and has been essentially unchanged since 
April. 
      
      The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 59.0 
percent in July. Over the year, this measure has edged up by 0.3 
percentage point. 
      
      Of the 146.4 million people employed in July, 7.5 million 
were employed part time for economic reasons, the same as in the 
prior month. (These individuals, also referred to as involuntary 
part-time workers, would have preferred full-time employment, 
but had their hours cut or were unable to find full-time work.) 
Involuntary part-time employment has declined by 669,000 over 
the past 12 months.
      
      Among persons who were neither working nor looking for work 
in July, about 2.2 million were classified as marginally 
attached to the labor force, down by 236,000 over the year. 
(These individuals had not looked for work in the 4 weeks prior 
to the survey but wanted a job, were available for work, and had 
looked for a job within the last 12 months.) The number of 
discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who 
believed that no jobs were available for them, was 741,000 in 
July, down by 247,000 from a year earlier.
      
      In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 209,000 in 
July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 6.2 
percent.