June 2004 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 continued to rise in June, and the unemploy- ment rate remained at 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment increased by 112,000 in June, following larger gains in the prior 3 months.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons, 8.2 million, was essentially unchanged in June, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.6 percent. The unemploy- ment rate has been 5.6 percent in all but one month this year. The unemploy- ment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.0 percent), adult women (5.0 percent), teenagers (16.8 percent), whites (5.0 percent), blacks (10.1 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.7 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. In June, the unemployment rate for Asians was 5.0 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment was 139.0 million in June, and the employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--was about unchanged at 62.3 percent. The civilian labor force participation rate also was little changed at 66.0 percent. (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 June, 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 478,000 discouraged workers in June, the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because they be- lieved no jobs were available for them. The other 1.0 million marginally at- tached had not searched for work for reasons such as school or family respon- sibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 112,000 in June to 131.3 million, seasonally adjusted, following larger gains in the prior 3 months. Since August 2003, payroll employment has risen by 1.5 million. In June, there were job gains in health care and social assistance, professional and technical services, and transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing employ- ment edged lower following several months of small increases, and construc- tion employment was flat. (See table B-1.)

Within the service-providing sector, health care and social assistance continued to grow, adding 30,000 jobs over the month. Employment in this industry has increased by 279,000 over the year. In June, employment rose in hospitals and in ambulatory health care services, which includes doctors' offices and home health care services. Child day care services added 11,000 jobs.

Employment in professional and technical services increased by 23,000, with small gains in several component industries, including management and consulting services, architectural and engineering services, and computer systems design and related services. Employment in temporary help services continued to trend up in June; the industry has added 306,000 jobs since its recent low in April 2003.

Transportation and warehousing added 19,000 jobs in June. Since August 2003, employment in the industry has grown by 83,000. In June, employment in truck transportation edged up, and the courier and messenger industry added 6,000 jobs.

Retail trade employment was little changed in June. Within retail, em- ployment in clothing stores continued to rise. There were small job losses in building material and garden supply stores and in motor vehicle and parts dealers. Employment had been growing in both industries. There was little change in employment elsewhere among private service-providing industries and in government.

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing employment edged down in June (-11,000) after increasing by 75,000 over the prior 4 months. In June, dur- able goods employment was little changed, while the number of jobs in nondur- able goods continued to trend down.

Following 3 months of increases totaling 120,000, employment in construc- tion was unchanged in June. Construction employment expanded by 250,000 from its recent low point in March 2003 through May 2004.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.2 hour in June to 33.6 hours, seasonally ad- justed. The workweek in manufacturing fell by 0.3 hour to 40.8 hours, near- ly offsetting the gain in May. Manufacturing overtime was unchanged at 4.6 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory work- ers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.6 percent in June to 99.6 (2002=100). The manufacturing index fell by 0.8 percent over the month to 94.6. (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 2 cents in June to $15.65, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings declined by 0.5 percent over the month to $525.84. Over the year, average hourly earnings grew by 2.0 percent, and average week- ly earnings increased by 1.7 percent. (See table B-3.)