February 2006 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 grew by 243,000 in February, and the unemploy- ment rate was little changed at 4.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job gains occurred in con- struction, financial activities, health care, and several other industries.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.8 percent, were little changed in February. A year earlier, the num- ber of unemployed was 8.0 million, and the jobless rate was 5.4 percent.

Following a decline in January, the unemployment rate for adult men edged up to 4.2 percent in February. The jobless rates for the other major worker groups--adult women (4.3 percent), teenagers (15.4 percent), whites (4.1 per- cent), blacks (9.3 percent), and Hispanics (5.5 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

After declining in January, the number of unemployed persons who had been without a job for 27 weeks or longer returned to its December level of 1.4 mil- lion. These long-term unemployed accounted for 19.0 percent of total unem- ployment in February, down slightly from a year earlier. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force and total employment continued to trend up in February. The labor force participation rate was essentially unchanged at 66.1 percent, and the employment-population ratio held at 62.9 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Nearly 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally at- tached to the labor force in February, down from about 1.7 million a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemploy- ed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 386,000 discouraged workers in Feb- ruary, down from 485,000 a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not current- ly 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.)

Employment Status of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees (Household Survey Data)

Beginning in October, questions were added to the household survey to identify persons who evacuated from their homes, even temporarily, due to Hurricane Katrina. Data collected through these questions do not account for all evacuees; persons living outside of the scope of the survey--such as those living in hotels or shelters--are not included. The questions were asked of persons in the household survey sample throughout the country, since some evacuees relocated far from the storm-affected areas. An addi- tional question determined whether evacuees had returned to their homes and were living there at the time of the survey. The total number of evacuees estimated from the household survey may change from month to month as people move in and out of the scope of the survey. In addition, because the esti- mates are obtained from a sample survey, they may vary from month to month due to sampling error.

Information gathered in February showed that about 1.0 million persons age 16 and over had evacuated from where they were living in August due to Hurri- cane Katrina. These evacuees either had returned to their homes or were liv- ing in other residential units covered in the survey in February. About one- half of the evacuees were living in their August 2005 residences. Of all e- vacuees identified, 58.1 percent were in the labor force in February. The unemployment rate for persons identified as evacuees was 12.6 percent. The rate was much higher for evacuees who were not living in their former homes (22.6 percent) than for those who were at home (4.8 percent). (See table B.)

(Numbers in thousands, not seasonally adjusted)

1 Represents persons in the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who resided in households that were eligible to be selected for the Current Population Survey (CPS). These data are not representative of the total evacuee population because they do not in- clude children or people residing in shelters, hotels, places of worship, or other units outside the scope of the CPS. The total number of evac- uees estimated from the CPS may change from month to month as people move in and out of the scope of the survey and because of sampling varia- bility. NOTE: These data use population controls that have been adjusted to account for interstate moves by evacuees.

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in February to 134.8 mil- lion, seasonally adjusted. Over the year, payroll employment grew by 2.1 mil- lion. Construction, mining, and several service-providing industries added jobs. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, construction employment increased by 41,000 in February, following a gain of 55,000 in the prior month. Over the year, con- struction employment has risen by 346,000. Specialty trade contractors added 32,000 jobs over the month. Mining continued its upward trend in February, adding 5,000 jobs. Support activities for mining, particularly those related to oil and gas, accounted for nearly all of the over-the-month gain.

Manufacturing employment was about unchanged in February; it has decreased by 8,000 over the year. Over the month, employment gains in machinery, petro- leum products, and computer and electronic products were offset by declines in motor vehicles and parts and primary metals.

In the service-providing sector, employment in education and health serv- ices rose by 47,000 in February. Health care employment continued to grow, up by 18,000. Job growth occurred in ambulatory health care services (11,000), which includes doctors' offices and home health care, and in hospitals (6,000). Employment in private educational services increased by 23,000.

Financial activities employment grew by 22,000 over the month, following a similar-sized gain in January. Employment in depository institutions and in insurance carriers rose in February, increasing by 4,000 and 6,000, respec- tively. Over the year, financial activities employment has risen by 169,000.

Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 21,000 in February. Over the year, this industry has added 203,000 jobs. Employment was flat in both wholesale and retail trade in February.

Professional and business services employment continued to trend up in February (39,000). The industry has added 466,000 jobs over the year. Over the month, employment rose by 13,000 in services to buildings and dwellings. Temporary help services employment was little changed over the month.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours in February, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.1 hour to 41.0 hours in February, and factory overtime was up by 0.1 hour to 4.6 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory work- ers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1 percent in February to 103.8 (2002=100). The manufacturing index increased by 0.2 percent over the month to 95.5. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in February to $16.47, seasonally ad- justed. This followed increases of 7 cents in both December and January. Average weekly earnings were little changed over the month at $555.04. Over the year, both average hourly and weekly earnings increased by 3.5 percent. (See table B-3.)