FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.S.T.
                            FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1996


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

Friday, November 1, 1996



	Good morning.  I am pleased to have this opportunity 
to comment on the employment and unemployment data released 
this morning.  
	Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in October, 
in line with the average monthly gain so far this year.   
Private sector employment increased by 250,000, after 
having shown little change in September.  The unemployment 
rate remained at 5.2 percent.   
	Fueling the increase in payroll employment were 
services and trade.  Services employment rose by 119,000 
overall following several months of more modest gains.  
Employment in amusement and recreation services was up by  
38,000, seasonally adjusted, as relatively light summer 
hiring resulted in fewer-than-usual autumn layoffs.  Health 
services added 24,000 jobs, about average for the year.  
Employment in educational services rose by 21,000, 
reflecting later-than-usual fall hiring.  Job gains also 
occurred in auto repair, legal services, and child day 
care.  In contrast to these advances, business services 
showed virtually no job growth for the second consecutive 
month, as a decline in personnel supply services offset a 
gain in computer and data processing services.  
	Retail trade added 62,000 jobs, reflecting a strong 
start in seasonal hiring in department stores, and gains in 
food stores and other retail establishments.  Wholesale 
trade employment rose by 19,000, mainly in the distribution 
of nondurable goods, especially apparel and groceries.  
	After holding steady in September, employment in 
finance, insurance, and real estate rose by 26,000 in 
October.  Contributing to the gain were finance, especially 
commercial banks, and real estate, as continuing strength 
in home sales resulted in relatively light seasonal 
layoffs.  
	Manufacturing employment was about unchanged in 
October following a large decline in September.  Industrial 
machinery added back about one-half of the jobs lost in the 
previous month.  A return of striking workers helped to 
boost employment in aircraft and parts by 6,000.  Lumber 
and wood products, printing and publishing, and chemicals 
also recorded job gains.  Offsetting these improvements was 
a decline in auto factory employment of 14,000.  Losses 
continued in electronic equipment and apparel.  Employment 
in construction increased by 10,000, less than half of the 
average monthly gain thus far this year.  
	Government employment declined for the second 
consecutive month.  At the state and local levels, these 
losses (on a seasonally adjusted basis) largely reflected 
changes in the timing of school openings.  Federal 
employment, excluding the Postal Service, fell by 7,000 in 
October and has declined by over 300,000 since its most 
recent peak in May 1992.  
	Average hours of production and nonsupervisory workers 
fell by 0.4 hour to 34.3 hours per week, about reversing 
increases in the prior 2 months.  The factory workweek fell 
by 0.2 hour to 41.6 hours.  Average hourly earnings of 
workers on private nonfarm payrolls were unchanged at 
$11.91, following gains totaling 10 cents over the prior 2 
months.  
	Turning to data from the household survey, the 
unemployment rate remained at 5.2 percent.  Among the major 
worker groups, unemployment rates were essentially 
unchanged for adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.7 
percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (4.4 percent), 
blacks (10.8 percent), and Hispanics (8.0 percent).  Both 
the number unemployed, at 6.9 million, and the number 
employed, at 127.6 million, were little changed over the 
month.  
	Before concluding, I would like to provide you with a 
preliminary estimate of the effect on our total payroll 
employment figures of the benchmark revision scheduled for 
release next June.  Once a year the Bureau adjusts the 
payroll survey's sample-based employment estimates to 
incorporate the previous year's March universe employment 
counts in a process known as benchmarking.  These universe 
employment counts are derived principally from state 
unemployment insurance tax reports that nearly all 
employers are required to file.  By early November of each 
year, we typically have completed preliminary tabulations 
of these universe counts for the first quarter of the year.  
We routinely share our estimate of the anticipated size of 
the benchmark revision for the prior March at the time we 
release our October Employment Situation report.
	Preliminary tabulations for the first quarter of 1996 
indicate that the payroll employment estimates will require 
only a slight adjustment, an upward revision of 
approximately 90,000 or one-tenth of one percent for the 
March 1996 reference month.  This is well within the 10-
year historical average of plus or minus three-tenths of 
one percent for benchmark revisions to the establishment 
survey, and indicates that our monthly sample survey 
results tracked closely with the universe employment counts 
for the 12-month period ending this past March.
	In summary, the number of employees on nonfarm  
payrolls rose in October and unemployment was unchanged.  
	
My colleagues and I now would be glad to respond to 
your questions.

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