February 1998 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 rose, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.6 percent in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of payroll jobs rose by 310,000, with continuing strength in services and construction. Manufacturing employment was about unchanged, following 4 months of strong growth.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, about 6.4 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.6 percent, were virtually unchanged from the prior month, after seasonal adjustment. Jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (3.8 percent), adult women (4.3 percent), teenagers (14.7 percent), whites (3.9 percent), blacks (9.7 percent), and Hispanics (6.8 percent)--showed little or no change in February. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Among the major educational attainment categories, the jobless rate for persons 25 years and over who had not completed high school (7.0 percent) continued to edge down. Over the year, it has declined by 1.8 percentage points. Over the month, rates for those with higher levels of educational attainment--including high school graduates with no college experience (4.0 percent), high school graduates with some college experience but no bachelor’s degree (3.1 percent), and college graduates (1.9 percent)--showed little or no change. (See table A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment was about unchanged in February, at 131.2 million (seasonally adjusted). Over the year, the number of employed persons rose by about 2.8 million, after adjusting for changes in the composite estimation procedure. The proportion of the population with jobs--the employment-population ratio--remained at the all-time high of 64.2 percent. (See table A-1.)

About 7.9 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in February. They comprised 6.1 percent of the total employed. (See table A-10.)

The civilian labor force, at 137.6 million (seasonally adjusted), was essentially unchanged over the month, following 3 months of strong growth. The labor force participation rate remained at a record 67.3 percent. (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 February. These were people who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

The number of discouraged workers--a subset of the marginally attached who were not currently looking for jobs specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them--totaled 361,000 in February, little changed from a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 310,000 in February, after seasonal adjustment, the fourth consecutive month of increases exceeding 300,000. Job growth was strong in both services and construction, while manufacturing employment was unchanged after 4 months of large gains. (See table B-1.)

Construction employment rose by 41,000 in February; since October, job growth has totaled 230,000. The recent growth reflects a strong housing market, unusually mild temperatures over most of the country, and cleanup and reconstruction activity following excessive rain in the West and ice storms in the Northeast.

Manufacturing employment was essentially unchanged in February. A small gain in durable goods was offset by a decline in nondurable goods, primarily in apparel manufacturing. Employment in both industrial machinery and electronic components failed to grow for the first month in over a year.

Employment in the services industry rose by 146,000 in February, with relatively large gains occurring in help supply services (52,000) and computer and data processing services (20,000). Growth also continued in engineering and management services. Employment in the health services industry rose by 25,000 in February, although recent losses in home health care continued.

Transportation employment was up by 34,000 in February, seasonally adjusted, following a similarly large gain in January. Growth was concentrated in air transportation (15,000) and trucking (7,000). Employment in communications was about unchanged, following an increase of 12,000 in January.

Employment in the durable component of wholesale trade rose by 21,000 in February. Retail trade employment growth (15,000) was weak for the second straight month. Many of the retail industries had little or no growth, and apparel and accessory stores lost 9,000 jobs. In contrast, employment continued to grow in furniture stores (5,000) and building materials and garden supply stores (5,000), consistent with the strong housing market.

The finance industry added 17,000 jobs in February, with gains occurring in most component industries. Mortgage brokerages grew substantially (7,000), reflecting increased refinancing activity spurred by lower mortgage rates. Growth continued in insurance and real estate, as employment in each industry increased by 5,000 over the month.

Government employment rose by 36,000 in February, with most of the increase occurring in local governments.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour in February to 34.9 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.1 hour to 42.0 hours, while factory overtime fell by 0.2 hour to 4.7 hours. Both measures are still near their historic highs. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.6 percent to 144.5 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index declined by 0.5 percent to 109.5. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased 8 cents in February to $12.60, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.9 percent to $439.74. Since February 1997, average hourly earnings have risen by 4.1 percent and average weekly earnings by 4.4 percent. (See table B-3.)