FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.S.T.
                            FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1997


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

Katharine G. Abraham
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics

before the

Joint Economic Committee

UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Friday, February 7, 1997




Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I would like to thank you for this opportunity to 
comment on the labor market data released this morning.
The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in 
January at 5.4 percent.  Nonfarm payroll employment 
increased by 271,000 over the month.  A number of roughly 
offsetting special factors influenced the payroll 
employment estimate.  Heavy snows (and resulting employment 
declines) in January 1996 affected our seasonal adjustment 
factors for this year, leading to an exaggeration of the 
over-the-month employment growth in certain industries.  On 
the other hand, employment was dampened in some sectors by 
bad weather this January, as well as by unusual movements 
in employment in several industries around the holiday 
season.  The net effect of all of these special factors on 
aggregate payroll employment growth was small, although 
estimates for specific industries may be somewhat over- or 
understated.  
The services industry added 167,000 jobs in January.  
This compares with an average monthly increase of 85,000 
between May and December.  The January gain was boosted by 
an unusually large estimated increase (82,000) in help 
supply services.  Although there does appear to have been 
some genuine strength in this industry in January, the 
magnitude of the over-the-month employment increase was 
somewhat exaggerated by the special factors that I 
mentioned earlier.  Elsewhere in services, health services 
added 43,000 jobs in January, nearly double the average 
monthly gain in 1996.  Strong employment growth trends 
continued in January in computer and data processing 
services and in engineering and management services.
Employment in the transportation industry increased by 
16,000 in January.  The finance and real estate industries 
continued their growth pattern, while employment in 
insurance fell.  Retail trade employment rose by 19,000 in 
January; this industry added an average of 50,000 jobs per 
month in 1996.  The January weakness reflected a decline in 
employment of 29,000 in general merchandise stores,  
following a larger-than-usual holiday employment buildup.  
In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing added 
18,000 jobs in January and has gained 53,000 over the past 
4 months.  This growth follows declines totaling 319,000 
factory jobs from March 1995 through September 1996.  
Within manufacturing, industrial machinery and equipment 
added 7,000 jobs in January, and motor vehicles added 6,000 
jobs.  Aircraft manufacturing continued its recent growth 
trend, and apparel its long-term downward trend.
Construction employment continued to increase, 
although January’s gain was held down by frigid 
temperatures throughout much of the country, and by ice and 
snow storms in the South, Midwest, and Northern Plains.
Average hourly earnings of production or 
nonsupervisory workers in the private sector edged up 1 
cent in January to $12.06.  This follows gains totaling 15 
cents per hour in the previous 2 months.  Over the year, 
average hourly earnings rose by 44 cents, or 3.8 percent.
Average weekly hours fell by 0.7 hour to 34.1 in 
January, reflecting unusually harsh weather conditions.  
The decline was spread throughout every major industry, 
with an especially large dropoff of 1.0 hour in 
construction.
Turning now to our survey of households, the 
unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in January at 
5.4 percent, and unemployment rates for the major 
demographic groups showed little or no change.  Civilian 
employment increased by about 430,000 (after adjusting for 
the revision to the population estimate that I will 
describe in a moment).  The employment-population ratio 
edged up to 63.6 percent.
The January household survey data incorporate revised 
estimates of the civilian, noninstitutional population age 
16 and over.  These revisions primarily reflect improved 
information on the demographic characteristics of 
immigrants to, and emigrants from, the United States.  The 
effect of these revisions is to make the January estimate 
of the population age 16 and over approximately 470,000 
larger than it otherwise would have been, with the increase 
concentrated in the population estimate for Hispanics.  The 
revision also raised estimated levels for the labor force, 
employment, and unemployment.  The unemployment rate, 
employment-population ratio, and other percentages 
generally were not affected by the revision.
In summary, nonfarm payroll employment continued to 
expand in January, and unemployment was essentially 
unchanged.
My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your 
questions.
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