April 2007 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 edged up (+88,000) in April, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job gains continued in several service-providing industries, including health care and food services, while employment declined in retail trade and manufacturing.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons (6.8 million) and the unemployment rate (4.5 percent) were essentially unchanged in April. The jobless rate has ranged from 4.4 to 4.6 percent since September 2006. (See table A-1.)

Over the month, the jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.8 percent), teenagers (15.3 percent), whites (3.9 percent), blacks (8.2 percent), and Hispanics (5.4 percent)--showed little or no change. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-2 and A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In April, total employment and the employment-population ratio fell to 145.8 million and 63.0 percent, respectively. The civilian labor force also fell over the month, to 152.6 million, and the labor force participation rate declined to 66.0 percent. The labor force participation rate was little changed over the year. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In April, 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally at- tached to the labor force compared with 1.3 million a year earlier. These in- dividuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime during the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the mar- ginally attached, there were 399,000 discouraged workers in April, about the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The remaining 992,000 persons marginally attached to the labor force in April had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance and family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 88,000 in April to 137.7 million (seasonally adjusted). Thus far in 2007, monthly payroll employment gains have averaged 129,000 compared with average increases of 189,000 per month in 2006. In April, job gains in health care, food services, and a few other industries were partially offset by employment declines in manufacturing and retail trade. (See table B-1.)

Health care employment continued to grow in April (+37,000), with gains throughout the component industries. Over the year, health care has added 362,000 jobs. Employment in social assistance was up by 10,000 in April and has grown by 63,000 over the year.

Food services and drinking places continued to expand in April, gaining 25,000 jobs. Employment in this industry has increased by 336,000 over the year.

Within professional and business services, employment rose in April in computer systems design (+11,000) and in management and technical consulting services (+12,000). Wholesale trade employment edged up by 13,000 over the month. Government employment continued to trend up in April and has grown by 297,000 over the year. Local government accounted for three-quarters of the over-the-year growth.

Employment in construction was little changed in April, with no significant movements among the component industries. Thus far in 2007, there has been es- sentially no net change in construction employment.

Manufacturing employment continued to decline in April (-19,000). Small job losses were widespread across manufacturing industries, with notable declines in machinery (-5,000), motor vehicles (-5,000), and textile mills (-3,000). The re- turn of 6,500 shipbuilding workers from a strike partly offset losses elsewhere in manufacturing.

Employment declined by 26,000 in retail trade in April. A sizeable job loss (-41,000) in general merchandise stores followed a large gain (30,000) in March. Within finance and insurance, employment fell by 14,000 in credit intermediation and related activities in April; commercial banking accounted for over half of the loss.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In April, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek and factory overtime each fell by 0.1 hour to 41.1 and 4.2 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.4 percent in April to 106.9 (2002=100). The manufacturing index also fell by 0.4 percent over the month to 95.0. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents, or 0.2 percent, in April to $17.25, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings edged down by 0.1 percent over the month to $583.05. Over the year, average hourly and weekly earnings grew by 3.7 and 3.4 percent, respectively. (See table B-3.)