July 1999 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.

Payroll employment rose in July, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 310,000. Job gains continued in construction and throughout the service-producing sector. Manu- facturing employment also rose, after seasonal adjustment. Average hourly earnings increased by 6 cents.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons (5.9 million) was about unchanged in July, and the unemployment rate held at 4.3 percent. The unemployment rate has been 4.3 or 4.2 percent each month since March. Over the month, the jobless rate for blacks increased to 8.8 percent. Unemployment rates for the other major demographic groups--adult men (3.5 percent), adult women (4.0 percent), teenagers (12.7 percent), whites (3.7 percent), and Hispanics (6.2 percent)--were essentially unchanged. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force (139.3 million) and the labor force participation rate (67.0 percent) were about unchanged from June. Both total employment (133.3 million) and the employment-population ratio (64.1 percent) were little changed in July. (See table A-1.)

About 7.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in July. These multiple jobholders represented 5.7 percent of the total employed, about the same as in July 1998. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in July, down from 1.3 million a year earlier. These were people who wanted and were available to 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 work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them--was 290,000 in July. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Data)

Total nonfarm employment rose by 310,000 in July to 128.7 million, after seasonal adjustment. Monthly gains had averaged 208,000 during the first half of the year. (See table B-1.)

Manufacturing added 31,000 jobs in July, after seasonal adjustment. This was only the second increase in factory employment since March 1998; the other gain occurred last August when a large number of workers returned to their jobs from strikes and related shutdowns. The July increase was concentrated in durable goods manufacturing, where seasonal declines in several industries were not as large as usual, resulting in employment gains after seasonal adjustment. Manufacturing industries with employment increases in July included fabricated metals, electrical equipment, instruments, industrial machinery, motor vehicles, furniture, and stone, clay, and glass products. Despite the increase in July, overall manufacturing employment remains 459,000 lower than its most recent peak in March 1998.

Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, construction added 22,000 jobs in July, following a similar gain in June. Employment in special trades grew by 15,000, with the largest gains in concrete work and painting. Growth also continued in the residential component of general building construction.

Mining lost 3,000 jobs in July, about the same number as in June. During the first 5 months of 1999, losses in the industry had averaged nearly 8,000 a month. July job losses were concentrated in oil and gas extraction, where employment has declined by 71,000, or 20 percent, since its most recent peak in February 1998.

In the service-producing sector, the services industry added 110,000 jobs in July, slightly below the average growth for the prior 12 months. Help supply services employment grew by 31,000 in July, the largest monthly gain in over a year and a half. Both computer services (13,000) and engineering and management services (26,000) continued their robust growth in July. Following 2 months of sluggish growth, health services had a substantial job gain (19,000), with the largest increases in doctors' offices and clinics.

Retail trade employment grew by 91,000 in July. Thus far in 1999, job growth in this industry has averaged about 51,000 a month, approximately twice the monthly average for the same period in 1998. Within retail trade, employment in eating and drinking places increased by 61,000 in July, almost double the gain in June. Employment also rose over the month in car dealerships and in building materials and garden supply stores. In contrast, furniture and home furnishings stores (which include computer stores) did not add employment for the first time in over a year.

Finance, insurance, and real estate added 13,000 jobs in July. Within finance, employment in securities brokerages increased by 7,000, the largest job increase of the year for this industry. In contrast, employment in mortgage banks declined for the second straight month, following 4 years of steady growth. Employment in wholesale trade grew by 16,000, with most of the increase occurring in durable goods. Transportation and public utilities added 14,000 jobs, with the largest gain occurring in trucking.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in July, at 34.5 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek rose by 0.2 hour to 41.9 hours; factory overtime was up 0.1 hour to 4.8 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.3 percent to 148.2 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index rose by 0.8 percent to 107.0 in July. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 6 cents in July to $13.29, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.5 percent, to $458.51, seasonally adjusted. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 3.8 percent and average weekly earnings increased by 3.5 percent. (See table B-3.)