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                         FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2005

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                        Statement of
                              
                     Kathleen P. Utgoff
                        Commissioner
                 Bureau of Labor Statistics
                              
                         before the
                              
                  Joint Economic Committee
                   UNITED STATES CONGRESS
                     Friday, May 6, 2005


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 rose by 274,000 in April,
and the unemployment rate held at 5.2 percent.  The in-
crease in payroll jobs followed revised gains of 300,000
in February and 146,000 in March.  Over the month, employ-
ment growth was widespread.  Notable gains continued in
construction, mining, food services, and health care.
     
     Among the goods-producing industries, construction
employment rose by 47,000, continuing the strong growth
trend of the last 2 years.  Most of April's increase oc-
curred in specialty trade contracting (40,000), with gains
in both its residential and nonresidential components.
Mining added 8,000 jobs in April.  Over the past 6 months,
mining employment has risen by 31,000, largely reflecting
increased hiring for support activities for oil and gas
operations.
     
     Manufacturing employment was essentially unchanged both
in April and over the year.  The manufacturing workweek was
up by one-tenth of an hour over the month, and factory
overtime held at 4.5 hours.
     
     In the service-providing sector, food services added
35,000 jobs over the month.  Following a lull in hiring last
summer, industry employment has risen by 183,000 since
September.  Health care employment increased by 25,000 in
April.  The job gain was concentrated in hospitals and in
doctors’ offices.
     
     Employment in the information industry increased by
12,000 over the month, with gains in motion pictures and
telecommunications.  Job growth continued in a number of
other service-providing industries, including financial
activities, professional and technical services, and
transportation.
     
     Average hourly earnings of private production or
nonsupervisory workers rose by 5 cents in April to $16.00,
following a 4-cent increase in March.  Over the year,
average hourly earnings grew by 2.7 percent.
     
     Looking at the measures from our household survey,
total employment rose in April by 598,000 to 141.1 million.
The labor force participation rate and the employment-
population ratio each edged up by 0.2 percentage point to
66.0 and 62.6 percent, respectively.  The number of
discouraged workers (persons outside the labor force who had
stopped looking for work because they believed their job
search efforts would be fruitless) declined by 99,000 over
the year to 393,000 in April (not seasonally adjusted).
     
     Both the number of unemployed persons and the
unemployment rate were unchanged in April.  About 1 in 5
unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or longer.
The long-term unemployed have accounted for over 20 percent
of total unemployment for 31 consecutive months.
     
      As part of our mission of reporting on America's
workers each month, and in recognition of Mother's Day this
Sunday, I would like to mention a few facts about working
mothers.  In today's labor market, 7 out of 10 mothers are
in the labor force, compared with 5 out of 10 in 1975.
Working moms account for almost one-fifth of all employed
individuals, and nearly three-fourths of employed mothers
usually work full time.  Mothers who usually work full time
also spend more than 2 hours each weekday performing active
childcare, cleaning house, and preparing meals.  In
addition, nearly 4 out of 10 mothers who work full time
perform volunteer work at some point during the year.
     
     I also would note that an updated version of a report
by BLS on women in the labor force, which includes data on
working mothers, will be posted on our Web site next week.
This report is a compilation of information on women workers
by various characteristics, including age, education,
occupation, and earnings.
     
     To summarize April's labor market data, nonfarm payroll
employment increased by 274,000.  The unemployment rate was
unchanged over the month, at 5.2 percent.
     
     
     
     My colleagues and I now would be glad to address your
questions.