Employment Situation Summary
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 04-996
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
Establishment data: 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release
http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT),
Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, June 4, 2004.
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: MAY 2004
Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 248,000 in May, and the unemployment
rate was unchanged at 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. The May increase in payroll employment
follows gains of 346,000 in April and 353,000 in March (as revised). Job
growth in May again was widespread, as increases continued in construction,
manufacturing, and several service-providing industries.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 8.2 million
in May, and the unemployment rate held at 5.6 percent. The unemployment rate
has been either 5.6 or 5.7 percent in each month since December 2003. The
unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.2 percent), adult
women (4.8 percent), teenagers (17.2 percent), whites (5.0 percent), blacks
(9.9 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.0 percent)--were little changed in
May. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.2 percent, not seasonally ad-
justed. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment was 138.8 million in May, and the employment-population
ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--remained
at 62.2 percent. The civilian labor force participation rate was 65.9 per-
cent for the fourth consecutive month. (See table A-1.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
The number of persons who were marginally attached to the labor force was
1.5 million in May, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not season-
ally adjusted.) These individuals wanted and were available to work and had
looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as
unemployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4
weeks preceding the survey. There were 476,000 discouraged workers in May,
also about the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers, a subset of the
marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because
they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million margin-
ally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school or family
responsibilities. (See table A-13.)
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Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
______________________________________________________________________________
| Quarterly | |
| averages | Monthly data |
|_________________|__________________________| Apr.-
Category | 2003 | 2004 1/| 2004 | May
|________|________|__________________________|change
| IV | I | Mar. | Apr. | May |
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force.....| 146,986| 146,661| 146,650| 146,741| 146,974| 233
Employment.............| 138,369| 138,388| 138,298| 138,576| 138,772| 196
Unemployment...........| 8,616| 8,273| 8,352| 8,164| 8,203| 39
Not in labor force.......| 75,290| 75,695| 75,900| 76,016| 75,993| -23
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Unemployment rates
|____________________________________________________
All workers..............| 5.9| 5.6| 5.7| 5.6| 5.6| 0.0
Adult men..............| 5.5| 5.1| 5.2| 5.0| 5.2| .2
Adult women............| 5.1| 5.0| 5.1| 5.0| 4.8| -.2
Teenagers..............| 16.3| 16.6| 16.5| 16.9| 17.2| .3
White..................| 5.1| 5.0| 5.1| 4.9| 5.0| .1
Black or African | | | | | |
American.............| 10.7| 10.1| 10.2| 9.7| 9.9| .2
Hispanic or Latino | | | | | |
ethnicity............| 7.1| 7.4| 7.4| 7.2| 7.0| -.2
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment.......| 130,002| 130,367| 130,630|p130,976|p131,224| p248
Goods-producing 2/.....| 21,676| 21,719| 21,778| p21,830| p21,902| p72
Construction.........| 6,766| 6,819| 6,853| p6,872| p6,909| p37
Manufacturing........| 14,340| 14,326| 14,344| p14,373| p14,405| p32
Service-providing 2/...| 108,326| 108,648| 108,852|p109,146|p109,322| p176
Retail trade.........| 14,915| 14,974| 15,013| p15,041| p15,060| p19
Professional and | | | | | |
business services..| 16,114| 16,202| 16,237| p16,367| p16,431| p64
Education and health | | | | | |
services...........| 16,705| 16,774| 16,813| p16,852| p16,896| p44
Leisure and | | | | | |
hospitality........| 12,172| 12,239| 12,271| p12,313| p12,353| p40
Government...........| 21,549| 21,540| 21,553| p21,574| p21,547| p-27
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Hours of work 3/
|____________________________________________________
Total private............| 33.7| 33.8| 33.8| p33.8| p33.8| p0.0
Manufacturing..........| 40.6| 41.0| 40.9| p40.7| p41.1| p.4
Overtime.............| 4.4| 4.6| 4.6| p4.6| p4.7| p.1
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 3/
|____________________________________________________
Total private............| 98.7| 99.3| 99.5| p99.9| p100.2| p0.3
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Earnings 3/
|____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private..........| $15.45| $15.52| $15.55| p$15.59| p$15.64| p$0.05
Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private..........| 520.55| 524.58| 525.59| p526.94| p528.63| p1.69
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
1 Beginning in January 2004, household data reflect revised population
controls used in the Current Population Survey.
2 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
3 Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
p=preliminary.
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Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 248,000 in May to 131.2 million,
seasonally adjusted. Since its recent low in August 2003, payroll employment
has risen by 1.4 million; 947,000 of this increase occurred over the last 3
months. Job growth was widespread in May, with gains continuing in construc-
tion, manufacturing, and several service-providing industries. (See table
B-1.)
In May, construction employment increased by 37,000, with most of the gain
occurring in specialty trade contracting and the construction of buildings.
Since March 2003, the construction industry has added about a quarter-million
jobs.
Manufacturing employment grew by 32,000 in May. Since January, manufactur-
ing as added 91,000 jobs, mostly in its durable goods component. In May, em-
ployment rose in three construction-related manufacturing industries: fabri-
cated metal products, wood products, and nonmetallic mineral products (such
as concrete and cement). Employment also increased in computer and electronic
products.
Mining employment continued to rise in May. Since January, the industry
has added 18,000 jobs.
In the service-providing sector, professional and business services added
64,000 jobs in May. Employment in temporary help services continued to rise
(31,000) and has grown by 299,000 (or 14 percent) since April 2003.
Strong employment increases in health care and social assistance continued
in May with a gain of 36,000. Over the year, this industry has added 274,000
jobs. Hospitals and ambulatory health care services, such as outpatient care
centers, accounted for two-thirds of May's employment gain.
Within the leisure and hospitality industry, food services added 33,000 jobs
over the month. Since the beginning of the year, employment in food services
has increased by an average of 32,000 a month, more than double the average
monthly increase in 2003.
Employment in financial activities rose by 15,000 in May, reflecting con-
tinued increases in real estate and in credit intermediation. Retail employ-
ment continued to trend upward in May; over the year, the industry has added
142,000 jobs. Within retail trade, employment edged up in May in building
material and garden supply stores, food and beverage stores, and clothing
stores. Wholesale trade employment also edged up in May; the industry has
added 55,000 jobs since October 2003.
In the information sector, telecommunications employment was down by 5,000
in May. Since its peak in March 2001, the telecommunications industry has shed
283,000 jobs, a fifth of its total.
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Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in May at 33.8 hours, seasonally adjusted. The
manufacturing workweek increased by 0.4 hour to 41.1 hours, more than offset-
ting declines in March and April. Manufacturing overtime edged up by 0.1 hour
to 4.7 hours in May. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.3 percent in May to 100.2 (2002=100).
The manufacturing index was up by 1.3 percent over the month to 95.5. (See
table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents in May to $15.64, seasonally adjusted. Aver-
age weekly earnings were up by 0.3 percent over the month to $528.63. Over
the year, average hourly earnings grew by 2.2 percent, and average weekly earn-
ings increased by 2.5 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________
The Employment Situation for June 2004 is scheduled to be released on Friday,
July 2, at 8:30 A.M. (EDT).
Tom Daschle was reportedly "Deeply, deeply saddened" at the news.
