June 2005 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 employment increased by 146,000 in June, and the unemployment rate continued to trend down, reaching 5.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the month, payroll em- ployment continued to grow in several industries, notably professional and business services and health care.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The jobless rate in June was 5.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. It has trended downward since February 2005 and is now 1.3 percentage points lower than its most recent high in June 2003. The number of unemployed persons was little changed over the month at 7.5 million, but is down by 1.7 million since June 2003.

The jobless rates for most major worker groups--adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.6 percent), whites (4.3 percent), blacks (10.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (5.8 percent)--showed little or no change in June. The unemployment rate for teenagers edged down to 16.4 percent over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.0 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed persons--those unemployed 27 weeks or longer--fell to 1.3 million in June. This group accounted for 17.8 percent of total unemployment, down from 20.1 percent in May. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In June, total employment (141.6 million) and the civilian labor force (149.1 million) were essentially unchanged. The employment-population ra- tio held at 62.7 percent, and the labor force participation rate was little changed over the month at 66.0 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In June, 1.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, compared with 1.5 million a year earlier. 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 476,000 discouraged workers in June, essentially the same as a year earlier. Dis-

couraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm employment rose by 146,000 in June to 133.5 million, season- ally adjusted. This followed job gains of 292,000 in April and 104,000 in May (as revised). Over the month, professional and business services and health care added jobs, and manufacturing employment declined. (See table B-1.)

Professional and business services employment grew by 56,000 in June, fol- lowing little change in May. This industry has gained nearly a half million jobs over the year. Within the industry, architectural and engineering serv- ices employment rose by 9,000 in June. Temporary help services employment was little changed; job growth in the industry has slowed since last October.

Health care employment continued to grow in June, rising by 25,000. Over the year, the health care industry has added 249,000 jobs. In June, job growth was concentrated in hospitals (12,000) and ambulatory health care serv- ices (11,000).

Among other service-providing industries, financial activities employment edged up over the month, as credit intermediation and real estate showed con- tinued strength. Employment in food services edged up in June after showing little change in May. Employment in child day care services rose by 8,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in June, as layoffs were lighter than usual. Employment in warehousing and storage rose by 6,000. Air transportation continued to lose jobs, declining by 3,000 over the month.

In June, manufacturing employment fell by 24,000. Motor vehicles and parts lost 18,000 jobs over the month. Job losses in nondurable goods manu- facturing were small but widespread, totaling 12,000. These declines were partially offset by a gain of 7,000 in computer and electronic products. Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, both mining and construction employ- ment continued to trend up over the month.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours in June, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek, at 40.4 hours, and manufacturing overtime, at 4.4 hours, also were unchanged. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2 percent in June to 102.5 (2002=100). The manufacturing index was down by 0.2 percent over the month to 93.4. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on pri- vate nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents in June to $16.06, seasonally ad- justed. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.2 percent over the month to $541.22. Over the year, average hourly and weekly earnings grew by 2.7 and 3.0 percent, respectively. (See table B-3.)