July 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 July, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of payroll jobs rose by 193,000 over the month, led by a gain in the retail trade industry. Average hourly earnings declined 2 cents in July, following a sharp rise in the prior month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons totaled 7.3 million in July, and the unemployment rate was 5.4 percent. July jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.9 percent), teenagers (16.4 percent), whites (4.7 percent), blacks (10.5 percent), and Hispanics (9.0 percent)--showed little change from the prior month. (See tables A-1 and A- 2.)

Both the number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks and the number of unemployed new entrants (persons with no work experience who had been out of the labor force prior to beginning their job search) rose in July. (See tables A-5 and A-6.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, at 126.9 million, continued to trend upward in July, and has risen by 1.9 million so far in 1996. In contrast, it grew by only about 400,000 during all of 1995. The proportion of the population 16 years and over with jobs (the employment-population ratio) was unchanged over the month at 63.2 percent. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who held two or more jobs was 7.6 million (not seasonally adjusted) in July. These multiple jobholders made up 5.9 percent of all employed persons. (See table A-9.)

The civilian labor force increased by 512,000 in July to 134.2 million, seasonally adjusted. Labor force growth has totaled 1.8 million thus far in 1996, about three times the level of growth for all of 1995. Reflecting this stronger labor force growth, the labor force participation rate was 66.9 percent in July, 0.6 percentage point higher than the rate at the end of 1995. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in July--that is, they wanted and were available for work but had stopped looking for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months. Of this total, those who were no longer looking specifically because they believed that no jobs were available for them--discouraged workers--numbered 423,000. (See table A-9.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 193,000 in July to 119.7 million, after seasonal adjustment. July's increase was somewhat below the average monthly gain in the second quarter (273,000). Retail trade employment continued its robust growth trend of recent months; the construction and finance industries experienced strong gains as well. Manufacturing employment declined over the month. (See table B-1.)

Employment in retail trade rose by 89,000 in July, marking the fourth consecutive month of very large gains. Almost half of the July increase was in eating and drinking places, which has added 79,000 jobs in the past 2 months. Food stores, auto dealers and service stations, and furniture and home furnishings stores also experienced substantial growth in July. Wholesale trade continued to show modest growth (12,000), mostly in the nondurable goods distribution component.

Construction employment increased by 25,000 in July; the industry has added 208,000 jobs since the beginning of 1996. Strong job growth among contractors in special trades, such as carpentry and electrical work, continued over the month. Within finance, insurance, and real estate, job gains were widespread in finance, while employment in real estate continued its pace of moderate growth.

Job growth in services was uncharacteristically sluggish in July. This weakness reflected declines in social services, hotels, educational services, hospitals, and home health care services. Business services employment increased by 35,000, over half of which was in the help supply component.

Employment in transportation and public utilities was about unchanged in July; growth in communications, air transportation, and local transit slightly offset declines in trucking and public utilities. Government employment grew moderately in July. At both the state and local level, employment rose in education, after seasonal adjustment, but these increases were partly offset by declines in the noneducation components. Federal government employment continued to trend downward.

Manufacturing employment fell by 20,000 in July, with small losses spread among both the durable and nondurable goods industries. Within durable goods, the largest decline was in primary metals. Fabricated metals and aircraft and parts, by contrast, posted strong gains. Employment in electronic equipment, which had shown little movement in the past 4 months, rose in July. Within nondurable goods, nearly all major industry groups experienced small declines over the month. Employment in nondurables has fallen by 321,000 over the past 19 months, half of which was in textiles and apparel.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.4 hour in July to 34.3 hours, seasonally adjusted. This decline nearly reversed June's large increase. The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.3 hour to 41.6 hours, and factory overtime edged down by 0.2 hour to 4.4 hours. Both measures had experienced substantial gains during the first half of the year. (See table B-2.)

The workweek decline caused the index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls to decline by 1.2 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis, to 136.1 (1982=100) in July. The manufacturing index edged down by 0.7 percent to 105.9. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers declined 2 cents in July to $11.80, seasonally adjusted, following a gain of 9 cents in the previous month. Average weekly earnings decreased by 1.3 percent to $404.74. Over the past year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.9 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 2.3 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