FOR DELIVERY:  9:30 A.M., E.S.T.
                         FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2006

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, February 3, 2006


Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

     I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor
market data we released this morning.

     Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 193,000 in
January, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent.
Payroll employment was up by 140,000 in December and by
354,000 in November (as revised).  Over the year, payroll
employment increased by 2.1 million.  In January, employment
growth occurred in construction, mining, and in several
service-providing industries.

     Employment in construction rose by 46,000 over the
month and by 345,000 over the year.  Above-average
temperatures in most of the country may have contributed
to fewer seasonal layoffs than usual in January.

     Manufacturing employment was little changed in January.
A few manufacturing industries have shown small job gains in
recent months, including wood products, fabricated metals,
and electrical equipment.

     Mining added 6,000 jobs in January.  Since its most
recent low in April 2003, mining employment has increased
by 91,000.

     In the service-providing sector, employment growth
continued in health care over the month.  Jobs were added
in doctors' offices, hospitals, and nursing and residential
care facilities.

     In January, employment in food services and drinking
places grew by 31,000.  Over the year, this industry has
added 214,000 jobs.

     Employment in professional and business services was up
by 24,000 in January, following 2 months of unusually large
gains that totaled 138,000.  In January, accounting services
lost jobs, while employment trended up in computer systems
design and in management and consulting services.

     In January, financial activities added 21,000 jobs.
Wholesale trade employment was up by 15,000, while retail
employment was little changed.

     Average hourly earnings for production or
nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by
7 cents in January to $16.41.  Over the year, average hourly
earnings grew by 3.3 percent.

     The establishment survey data released today reflect
the incorporation of annual benchmark revisions and updated
seasonal adjustment factors.  Each year, we anchor our
sample-based survey estimates to full universe counts of
employment, derived principally from administrative records
of the unemployment insurance tax system.

     The benchmark revision decreased the level of nonfarm
payroll employment in March 2005 by 158,000 (not seasonally
adjusted), or about one-tenth of one percent.  Over the past
decade, benchmark revisions have averaged plus or minus two-
tenths of one percent.  The seasonally adjusted establishment
survey data from January 2001 forward have been revised to
incorporate updated seasonal adjustment factors.

     Turning now to the measures from our household survey,
the unemployment rate declined to 4.7 percent in January,
and the number of unemployed persons fell to 7.0 million.
The number of long-term unemployed persons--those unemployed
for 27 weeks or more--declined to 1.2 million in January.
They constituted 16.3 percent of all unemployed persons,
down from 21.0 percent a year earlier.  The number of
discouraged workers fell over the year to 396,000 (not
seasonally adjusted).  Discouraged workers are those persons
outside the labor force who had stopped looking for work
because they believed their job search efforts would be
unsuccessful.

     With today's release, we again report on the labor
force status of survey respondents who evacuated from their
homes due to Hurricane Katrina.  The data are derived from a
special set of questions that have been included in the
household survey since October to identify and gather
information from evacuees.  The estimates do not account for
all persons who evacuated from their homes due to Hurricane
Katrina.  We do not gather information on those evacuees who
remain outside the scope of the survey, such as those
currently living in hotels or shelters.

     The January data indicate that there were about 1.2
million persons age 16 and over who evacuated from their
August residence due to Hurricane Katrina.  By January,
about one-half of evacuees had returned to the homes they
vacated in August.  Among Katrina evacuees in January, 56.8
percent were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate
was 14.7 percent.  Unemployment rates were much lower for
those evacuees who had returned home than for those evacuees
who had not.  The January unemployment rate for those who
had returned was 2.9 percent; it was 26.3 percent for those
who had not yet returned to their residences.

     To summarize the labor market data for January, payroll
employment rose by 193,000, and the unemployment rate
declined to 4.7 percent.



     My colleagues and I now would be glad to address your
questions.