June 1996 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in June, and the unemployment rate decreased to 5.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of payroll jobs rose by 239,000 over the month, led by gains in the services and retail trade industries. There also were substantial gains in both average hourly earnings and the length of the workweek.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The unemployment rate fell from 5.6 to 5.3 percent in June, and the number of unemployed persons declined by 388,000. The jobless rate had ranged between 5.4 and 5.8 percent from October 1994 through May of this year. The rates for adult women and whites--both 4.6 percent--dropped in June, while those for adult men (4.6 percent), teenagers (15.9 percent), blacks (10.1 percent), and Hispanics (8.8 percent) were little changed. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Both the number of unemployed persons who were on temporary layoff and the number who were reentering the labor force declined in June. In contrast, the number of unemployed job losers not on temporary layoff rose. The proportion of the unemployed who had been jobless for 27 weeks or more was 18.6 percent in June; this proportion has increased since February, and has been unusually high for a period with a relatively low overall unemployment rate. (See tables A-5 and A-6.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment was about unchanged in June at 126.6 million. During the first half of this year, however, total employment rose by 1.6 million compared to only 386,000 during all of 1995. Reflecting this greater employment growth, the employment-population ratio--the share of the population 16 years and over that is working--has increased 0.6 percentage point since December to 63.2 percent. The number of persons working part time for economic reasons was about unchanged over the month; it had edged down to 4.3 million in May, after fluctuating between 4.4 and 4.6 million during most of the prior 2 years. (See tables A-1 and A-3.)

The number of multiple jobholders totaled 7.7 million (not seasonally adjusted) in June. These workers made up 6.0 percent of all employed persons. (See table A-9.)

The civilian labor force was about unchanged in June at 133.7 million, seasonally adjusted. The labor force increased by 1.3 million during the first half of the year, following sluggish growth in 1995. The labor force participation rate, 66.7 percent, was 0.4 percentage point higher than in December. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The number of marginally attached workers was 1.7 million (not seasonally adjusted) in June. These persons want and are available to take a job but had stopped looking for work sometime in the prior 12 months. Of this group, the number who said they had stopped looking for work because of discouragement over job prospects was 414,000. (See table A-9.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 239,000 in June to 119.5 million, after seasonal adjustment. Job growth during the second quarter of 1996 averaged 265,000 per month, somewhat above the average monthly increase for the first quarter and well above the average in each of the last three quarters of 1995. Services and retail trade accounted for two- thirds of June's growth, but most other major industries had job gains as well. Manufacturing employment was little changed over the month. (See table B-1.)

Employment in the services industry rose by 99,000 in June. Business services continued to show strength, adding 38,000 jobs. Most of the growth was concentrated in help supply services, which has added 192,000 jobs over the year. Engineering and management services continued its strong growth trend in June. Among the highly seasonal industries, hotels and agricultural services both experienced robust job gains over the month, while amusement and recreation employment declined, after seasonal adjustment. Job growth in health services was weak, reflecting a small decline in hospital employment.

Retail trade employment increased by 75,000 in June, the third straight month of particularly large gains. Nearly half of the June increase was in eating and drinking places, which had shown little net growth this year through May. Auto dealers and service stations, retailers of building materials and garden supplies, and furniture and home furnishings stores all experienced substantial growth over the month. Wholesale trade continued to show modest job growth (12,000) in June, which was evenly split between the durable and nondurable goods components.

Transportation and public utilities showed a moderate employment gain (16,000) in June, as strength in transportation (particularly air transportation) slightly offset declines in both communications and public utilities. Finance, insurance, and real estate experienced modest job growth (11,000) over the month. Gains were concentrated in finance, particularly commercial banks and savings institutions; finance has added nearly 100,000 jobs over the past year. Real estate establishments recorded about average growth, while insurance employment was about unchanged.

Construction employment rose by 23,000 in June; the strong winter and spring hiring season yielded a net gain of 183,000 jobs over the first half of the year. Manufacturing employment was about unchanged in June. During the second quarter of the year, several industries experienced modest growth, including transportation equipment, fabricated metals, lumber, and rubber and miscellaneous plastics products. In contrast, several nondurable goods industries, particularly food, apparel, and chemicals manufacturing, continued to reduce their payrolls during the quarter.

Government employment was little changed over the month. Federal government employment continued its downward trend with a decline of 13,000 in June, and state government employment also fell slightly. Employment in local government education rose, after seasonal adjustment.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.5 hour in June to 34.7 hours. The manufacturing workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 41.8 hours, while factory overtime was unchanged for the third straight month, at 4.6 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose by 1.8 percent in June to 137.7 (1982=100). This large gain reflected both the employment growth and the substantial increase in the length of the average workweek. The manufacturing index edged up by 0.3 percent to 106.5. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls increased 9 cents in June to $11.82 (seasonally adjusted), following a gain of 1 cent in May. Average weekly earnings rose by 2.2 percent to $410.15. Over the past year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.4 percent and average weekly earnings by 4.3 percent. (See table B-3.)

HOUSEHOLD DATA Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age

1/ The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.

1/ The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns. NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups.

(In thousands)

1/ Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force. 2/ Seasonally adjusted unemployment data for service occupations are not available because the seasonal component, which is small relative to the trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.

1/ Not available.

(Percent)

1/ Not available. NOTE: This range of alternative measures of labor underutilization replaces the U1-U7 range published in table A-7 of this release prior to 1994. Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule. For further information, see "BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.

1/ Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.

(In thousands)

1/ Data refer to persons who have searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available to take a job during the reference week. 2/ Includes thinks no work available, could not find work, lacks schooling or training, employer thinks too young or old, and other types of discrimination. 3/ Includes those who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as child-care and transportation problems, as well as a small number for which reason for nonparticipation was not determined. 4/ Includes persons who work part time on their primary job and full time on their secondary job(s), not shown separately.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA