Employment Situation Summary

Technical information:
 Household data:    (202) 691-6378     USDL 08-1367
           http://www.bls.gov/cps/

 Establishment data:(202) 691-6555     Transmission of material in this release
           http://www.bls.gov/ces/     is embargoed until 8:30 A.M (EDT),
Media contact:       (202) 691-5902     Friday, October 3, 2008.
                                 
                                 
              THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION:  SEPTEMBER 2008

  Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 159,000 in September, and
the unemployment rate held at 6.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Employment
continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade, 
while mining and health care
continued to add jobs.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

  The unemployment rate (6.1 percent) was unchanged in September,
following a 0.4 percentage point rise in August.  The number of
unemployed persons was little changed at 9.5 million.  Over the past
12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 2.2 mil-
lion and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.4 percentage points.
(See table A-1.)
 
  The unemployment rates for adult men (6.1 percent) and blacks (11.4
percent) rose in September.  The jobless rates for teenagers (19.1 per-
cent), whites (5.4 percent), and Hispanics (7.8 percent) were essen-
tially unchanged.  The unemployment rate for adult women declined  to
4.9 percent, partly offsetting an increase in August.  The unemploy-
ment rate for Asians in September was 3.8 percent, not seasonally ad-
justed.  (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
 
  In September, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for
27 weeks or more) rose by 167,000 to 2.0 million, an increase of 728,000
over the past 12 months.  The long-term unemployed accounted for 21.1 per-
cent of total unemployment in September.  (See table A-9.)
 
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
 
  The civilian labor force (154.7 million) and the labor force parti-
cipation rate (66.0 percent) were essentially unchanged over the month. 
Total employment (145.3 million) and the employment-population ratio
(62.0 percent) were little changed.  Since a recent high in December
2006, the employment-population ratio has declined by 1.4 percentage
points.  (See table A-1.)
 
  The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons
rose by 337,000 to 6.1 million in September, an increase of 1.6 mil-
lion over the past 12 months.  This category includes persons who
would like to work full time but were working part time because their
hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time
jobs.  (See table A-5.)
 

                              - 2 -


Table A.  Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted       
(Numbers in thousands)                                                         
_______________________________________________________________________________
                        |                 |                          |        
                        |    Quarterly    |                          |        
                        |     averages    |       Monthly data       |  Aug.- 
       Category         |_________________|__________________________|  Sept. 
                        |        |        |        |        |        | change 
                        |   II   |  III   |  July  |  Aug.  |  Sept. |        
                        |  2008  |  2008  |  2008  |  2008  |  2008  |        
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________
                        |                                                     
    HOUSEHOLD DATA      |                 Labor force status                  
                        |_____________________________________________________
                        |        |        |        |        |        |        
Civilian labor force ....| 154,294| 154,730| 154,603| 154,853| 154,732|    -121
 Employment ............| 146,089| 145,517| 145,819| 145,477| 145,255|    -222
 Unemployment ..........|   8,204|   9,213|   8,784|   9,376|   9,477|     101
Not in labor force ......|  79,117|  79,381|  79,261|  79,253|  79,628|     375
                        |________|________|________|________|________|________
                        |                                                     
                        |                 Unemployment rates                  
                        |_____________________________________________________
                        |        |        |        |        |        |        
All workers .............|     5.3|     6.0|     5.7|     6.1|     6.1|     0.0
 Adult men .............|     4.9|     5.7|     5.3|     5.6|     6.1|      .5
 Adult women ...........|     4.6|     4.9|     4.6|     5.3|     4.9|     -.4
 Teenagers .............|    17.4|    19.5|    20.3|    18.9|    19.1|      .2
 White .................|     4.7|     5.3|     5.1|     5.4|     5.4|      .0
 Black or African       |        |        |        |        |        |        
   American ............|     9.1|    10.6|     9.7|    10.6|    11.4|      .8
 Hispanic or Latino     |        |        |        |        |        |        
   ethnicity ...........|     7.2|     7.7|     7.4|     8.0|     7.8|     -.2
                        |________|________|________|________|________|________
                        |                                                     
 ESTABLISHMENT DATA     |                     Employment                      
                        |_____________________________________________________
                        |        |        |        |        |        |        
Nonfarm employment.......| 137,699|p137,448| 137,550|p137,477|p137,318|   p-159
 Goods-producing (1)....|  21,565| p21,373|  21,437| p21,380| p21,303|    p-77
   Construction ........|   7,242|  p7,153|   7,173|  p7,160|  p7,125|    p-35
   Manufacturing .......|  13,563| p13,433|  13,487| p13,431| p13,380|    p-51
 Service-providing (1)..| 116,134|p116,075| 116,113|p116,097|p116,015|    p-82
     Retail trade (2)...|  15,337| p15,272|  15,302| p15,277| p15,237|    p-40
   Professional and     |        |        |        |        |        |        
     business services .|  17,980| p17,866|  17,904| p17,861| p17,834|    p-27
   Education and health |        |        |        |        |        |        
     services ..........|  18,823| p18,983|  18,935| p18,994| p19,019|     p25
   Leisure and          |        |        |        |        |        |        
     hospitality .......|  13,683| p13,643|  13,655| p13,645| p13,628|    p-17
   Government ..........|  22,439| p22,526|  22,502| p22,533| p22,542|      p9
                        |________|________|________|________|________|________
                        |                                                     
                        |                  Hours of work (3)                  
                        |_____________________________________________________
                        |        |        |        |        |        |        
Total private ...........|    33.7|   p33.7|    33.7|   p33.7|   p33.6|   p-0.1
 Manufacturing .........|    41.0|   p40.9|    41.0|   p40.9|   p40.7|    p-.2
   Overtime ............|     3.9|    p3.7|     3.8|    p3.7|    p3.6|    p-.1
                        |________|________|________|________|________|________
                        |                                                     
                        |   Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100)(3)   
                        |_____________________________________________________
                        |        |        |        |        |        |        
Total private ...........|   107.2|  p106.7|   106.9|  p106.8|  p106.3|   p-0.5
                        |________|________|________|________|________|________
                        |                                                     
                        |                     Earnings (3)                    
                        |_____________________________________________________
Average hourly earnings, |        |        |        |        |        |        
 total private .........|  $17.95| p$18.12|  $18.06| p$18.14| p$18.17|  p$0.03
Average weekly earnings, |        |        |        |        |        |        
 total private .........|  605.40| p610.15|  608.62| p611.32| p610.51|   p-.81
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________
                                                                              
  1 Includes other industries, not shown separately.                          
  2 Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated using     
unrounded data.                                                                
  3 Data relate to private production and nonsupervisory workers.             
  p = preliminary.                                                            


                              - 3 -


  The number of multiple jobholders fell by 398,000 in September to
7.7 million; multiple jobholders made up 5.3 percent of all employed
persons.  (See table A-6.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

  About 1.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally
attached to the labor force in September, 336,000 more than 12 months
earlier.  These individuals wanted and were available for work and had
looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.  They are not count-
ed as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks
preceding the survey.  Among the marginally attached, there were 467,000
discouraged workers in September; the number of discouraged workers has
increased by 191,000 from a year earlier.  Discouraged workers are per-
sons not currently looking for work specifically because they believe
no jobs are available for them.  The other 1.1 million persons margin-
ally attached to the labor force in September had not searched for work
in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school atten-
dance or family responsibilities.  (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

  Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 159,000 in September.
Thus far in 2008, payroll employment has fallen by 760,000.  Over the
month, employment continued to decline in manufacturing, construction,
and retail trade.  Health care and mining continued to add jobs in
September.  (See table B-1.)
 
  Manufacturing employment fell by 51,000 over the month, bringing
the decline in factory jobs to 442,000 over the past 12 months.  In
September, job losses continued in motor vehicles and parts (-18,000);
this industry has shed 140,000 jobs over the past 12 months.  Else-
where among durable goods manufacturers, employment decreased in fab-
ricated metals (- 7,000), wood products (-5,000), and furniture and
related products (-5,000).  In nondurable goods manufacturing, paper
products (-3,000) and plastics and rubber products (-4,000) lost jobs
over the month.
 
  Construction lost 35,000 jobs over the month.  Thus far this year,
all of the components of construction have experienced employment
declines; the majority of the losses have been in the residential
components.
 
  Employment in retail trade dropped by 40,000 in September and by
250,000 over the last 12 months.  Department stores lost 11,000 jobs
in September and 70,000 over the last 12 months.  Employment also
continued to decline in motor vehicle and parts dealers (-10,000);
this industry has lost 48,000 jobs in the past 4 months.  Gasoline
stations also lost jobs in September (-6,000).
 
  Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 16,000 in
September and by 57,000 since its peak 12 months earlier.  Over the
month, job losses occurred in trucking (-12,000) and air transporta-
tion (-5,000).
 

                              - 4 -
                             
                                
  In September, employment in financial activities fell by 17,000,
with nearly half of the decline occurring in securities and investment
firms.  The financial activities industry has lost 172,000 jobs since
its employment peak in December 2006.
 
  Employment in professional and business services continued to trend
down over the month (-27,000), largely reflecting further job cuts in
employment services.  Computer systems design services and management
and technical consulting services each added 9,000 jobs in September.
 
  Health care employment continued to increase in September with a
gain of 17,000.  Job growth in the industry averaged 30,000 a month
over the prior 12 months.  In September, employment also continued
to grow in mining (8,000).  Mining employment has expanded by 241,000
since reaching a low in April 2003.
 

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
 
  In September, the average workweek for production and nonsupervi-
sory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 hour to 33.6
hours, seasonally adjusted.  The manufacturing workweek decreased  by
0.2 hour, and factory overtime decreased by 0.1 hour.  (See table B-2.)
 
  The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervi-
sory workers on nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.5 percent in September to
106.3 (2002=100).  The manufacturing index decreased by 1.0 percent
to 89.6.  (See table B-5.)
 
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
 
  In September, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervi-
sory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents, or 0.2 per-
cent, to $18.17, seasonally adjusted.  This followed gains of 6 cents
in July and 8 cents in August.  Average weekly earnings were $610.51 in
September.  Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings increased
by 3.4 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 2.8 percent.  (See
tables B-3 and B-4.)
 
 
                      ______________________________
 
 
     The Employment Situation for October 2008 is scheduled to be released
on Friday, November 7, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).





   ---------------------------------------------------------------
  |                                                               |
  |                          Hurricane Ike                        |
  |                                                               |
  |    Hurricane Ike struck the east coast of Texas and portions  |
  | of coastal Louisiana on September 13th in the midst of the    |
  | establishment survey reference period.  For the weather condi-|
  | tions to have affected payroll employment, people would have  |
  | had to be off work for the entire pay period and not paid for |
  | the time missed.  Therefore, it is unlikely the storm had sub-|
  | stantial effects on the national employment estimates.        |
  |                                                               |
  |    In the household survey, people who miss work for weather- |
  | related events are counted as employed whether or not they    |
  | are paid for the time off.                                    |
  |                                                               |
   ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   
                                                                    
                                 
                              - 5 -
                             
                             
            Preliminary Estimates of Benchmark Revisions            
                    to the Establishment Survey                   

  In accordance with usual practice, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
is announcing its preliminary estimates of the upcoming annual bench-
mark revision to the establishment survey employment series.  The
final benchmark revision will be issued on February 6, 2009, with the
publication of the January 2009 Employment Situation news release.
 
  Each year, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey employ-
ment estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment
for the month of March derived from state unemployment insurance tax
records that nearly all employers are required to file. For national
CES employment series, the annual benchmark revisions over the last
10 years have averaged plus or minus two-tenths of one percent at the
total nonfarm level.  The preliminary estimate of the benchmark revi-
sion shows that there was an accumulated overstatement of CES employ-
ment between March 2007 and March 2008 of 21,000 (0.02 percent of total
nonfarm employment in March 2008).
 
  Table B shows the March 2008 preliminary benchmark revisions by
major industry sector.  As is typically the case, many of the individ-
ual industry series show larger percentage revisions than the total
nonfarm series, primarily because statistical sampling error is greater
at more detailed levels than at a total level. 



Table B.  National Current Employment Statistics March 2008 preliminary
benchmark revisions by major industry sector
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                |                  |Percent benchmark
             Industry           |Benchmark revision|    revision
---------------------------------|------------------|------------------
Total nonfarm ..................|      -21,000     |        (1)
  Total private ................|      -81,000     |       -0.1
    Natural resources and       |                  |
      mining ...................|            0     |         .0
    Construction ...............|       56,000     |         .8
    Manufacturing ..............|       -7,000     |        -.1
    Trade, transportation,      |                  |
      and utilities ............|       85,000     |         .3
    Information ................|       16,000     |         .5
    Financial activities .......|      -20,000     |        -.2
    Professional and business   |                  |
      services .................|      -46,000     |        -.3
    Education and health        |                  |
      services .................|      -17,000     |        -.1
    Leisure and hospitality ....|     -154,000     |       -1.2
    Other services .............|        6,000     |         .1
  Government ...................|       60,000     |         .3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. jobless rate steady in June at 5.5%

BCI FINGERS 120X600

Posted Jul 3, 2008
Economy
U.S. jobless rate steady in June at 5.5%


By Susan A. Baird
PBN Web Editor

WASHINGTON – The jobless rate nationwide was steady last month at 5.5 percent and the nation’s unemployment rolls were “essentially unchanged” at 8.5 million job seekers, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a report today.

That represented a substantial increase from a year ago, when the U.S. unemployment rate was 4.6 percent and the number of people listed as unemployed was 7.0 million. But the BLS cited a rise in unemployment among prospective workers ages 16 to 24.

“Labor market weakness persisted in June,” BLS Commissioner Keith Hall said in a statement to Congress this morning.

U.S. non-farm payrolls continued to shrink in June, losing 62,000 workers nationwide, the same as in May (READ MORE), for an average loss of 73,000 positions per month over the first half or the year, Hall said. But the nation has added about 7.8 million jobs since August 2003, the BLS noted. And employment increased in 35 states and the District of Columbia in the 12 months ended in May, the latest month for which such figures are available.

“In June, job losses continued in construction, manufacturing and employment services, while health care and mining added jobs,” Hall said.

“Construction job losses totaled 43,000 in June and were spread throughout the industry. Employment in the industry has fallen by 528,000 since its September 2006 peak,” he added. “More than two thirds of the decline (-373,000 jobs) occurred since October 2007.”

Manufacturing, which lost 33,000 jobs last month, has seen average losses of 39,000 jobs per month in the first half of this year, after losing 22,000 jobs per month in 2007, Hall said.

“Employment services lost 59,000 jobs in June, with half of the decline in temporary help services,” he added. “Temporary help lost 154,000 jobs in the first half of 2008, about twice the number lost in all of 2007.

“Health care employment continued to grow (15,000), although the June gain was half the size of the average increase over the prior 12 months. Health care added 170,000 jobs in the first half of 2008. Employment in food services continued to trend up over the month, although job growth has slowed markedly since last October.”

Meanwhile, the number of people newly unemployed shrank by 532,000 last month, after surging in May. And the number of people working part-time for economic reason was “about unchanged” at 5.4 million, or 1.1 million more than a year ago, Hall said.

The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private non-farm payrolls was unchanged from May at a seasonally adjusted 33.7 hours, the BLS reported. The manufacturing workweek shrank 0.1 hours to 40.9 hours, while factory overtime held steady at 3.9 hours.

Average hourly earnings rose 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, compared with May – to a seasonally adjusted $18.01– after falling 6 cents in May and 2 cents in April. Compared with a year ago, hourly earnings rose 3.4 percent.

Average weekly earnings rose 0.3 percent last month – to $606.94 – bringing the increase over the past 12 months to 2.8 percent.

“Today’s employment data reflect the impact of the headwinds we face from high energy prices, the housing correction and the credit disruption,” Assistant U.S. Treasury Secretary Phillip Swagel said in a statement after the BLS announcement. “The rebate checks and investment incentives in the stimulus package are helping to support spending while adjustments continue in housing and financial markets.”

Additional information, including the 29-page Employment Situation Summary and the BLS Commissioner’s Statement on the Employment Situation release, is available from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics at www.bls.gov.

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Payrolls fall by 62,000 in June

Unemployment rate steady at 5.5%, worse than expected
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last update: 10:41 a.m. EDT July 3, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economy shed 62,000 jobs in June while the unemployment rate unexpectedly remained at a four-year high of 5.5%, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Payrolls have now declined in all six months this year for a total job loss of 438,000, the strongest evidence that the economy fell into a recession in the first half of the year. Read related commentary.

The report doesn't "point to an economy that is crashing and burning," wrote Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisers. But "it is consistent with an economy that is in a deep funk."

Job losses in June were slightly worse than the 40,000 expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The unemployment rate was expected to fall to 5.4%. See Economic Calendar.
Payroll losses in April and May were revised down to show 52,000 more jobs lost in those months. May's loss now measures 62,000.

Total hours worked in the economy fell by 0.1% in June. In the factory sector, total hours worked fell 0.5% in June and are down 3.6% in the past year.

Most analysts expect unemployment to rise further this year as the economic storm clouds gather force. Rising energy prices, falling home and equity prices, and a severe credit crunch will keep the economy weak, they say. Exports and the $107 billion in stimulus checks are the main factors supporting growth.

Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents to $18.01, or 0.3%, in June. In the past year, average hourly earnings are up 3.4%, while consumer prices are up 4.2%.

"Wage inflation appears to be moderating in response to a deteriorating labor market - and real wages are plummeting," wrote David Greenlaw and Ted Wieseman, economists for Morgan Stanley. Falling wages should keep inflation contained, and will reduce consumer spending as well, they said.

The report is likely to have little impact on the Federal Reserve's internal debate about monetary policy. Few analysts expect the Fed to raise or lower interest rates in the next few months, although financial markets do expect two rate hikes by the end of the year.
The Fed has expected the economy to weaken, which should in turn bring down troublesome inflation rates. The Fed will see the July jobs report before its next policy meeting on Aug. 5.
"The potential for the unemployment rate to rise to 6.0% should keep the Fed on hold," wrote Stephen Gallagher, economist for Societe Generale.

Construction, manufacturing and temporary-help services reported heavy job losses in June. Construction payrolls fell by 43,000, factory payrolls fell by 33,000, and temp-agency employment fell by 30,000. Retail jobs fell 7,500, while financial services shed 10,000 jobs.
Hiring remained strong in the usual places: Health care added 15,000 jobs. Government added 29,000 workers. Food services added 16,000 jobs.

Of 274 industries, 46.9% were hiring in June, up from 45.6% in May. Of 84 manufacturing industries, 33.3% were hiring, down from 41.7% in May.

In the separate survey of households used to figure the unemployment rate, the government reported employment fell by 155,000, while unemployment rose by 12,000. The labor force fell by 144,000.

The labor-force participation rate fell by a tenth of a percentage point to 66.1%

The unemployment rate for adult men rose by two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.1%, while the rate for women fell to 4.7% from 4.8%. The jobless rate for teens dropped to 18.1% from 18.6%. The jobless rate for blacks fell by a half percentage point to 9.2%. It was steady for whites at 4.9%.

A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers rose from 9.7% to 9.9%, the highest in four years.

The number of people who were working part-time because a full-time job was not available rose 3.5% in June to 5.4 million, up 1.1 million in the past year and the highest in 14 years.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose by 16,000 last week to 404,000, just the second time in this cycle claims have been above 400,000. Meanwhile, the smoothed trend for continuing claims rose again to a fresh four-year high.

Unemployment rate sees largest monthly jump since 1986

By DIANE STAFFORD
The Kansas City Star

The national unemployment rate increased by a half percentage point in May, the largest monthly jump since 1986, and employers cut 49,000 jobs.
It was the fifth straight month of payroll declines.
There are about 1.5 million more unemployed job hunters now than at this time a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. An estimated 8.5 million unemployed people are looking for work.

Joblessness in May soared to 5.5 percent, up from 5 percent in April, reaching its highest rate since October 2004. That report and a $10.75 jump in the price of a barrel of oil slammed the markets, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling nearly 400 points. (See stories on A1 and C3.)

“The numbers are consistent with an economy on the edge of recession, if not in one,” said Frank Lenk, chief economist at the Mid-America Regional Council in Kansas City. “Since payroll employment data tends to get revised downward once all the data is collected, it might be worse than the current data suggests.”

The statistics bureau’s report did, indeed, issue revised employment counts for March and April, indicating that employers had 15,000 fewer workers on their payrolls in April and 15,000 fewer on their March payrolls than initially estimated for those months.

The jobs report indicated that the January-May period this year represents the first time since February-June 2003 that national payrolls declined for five consecutive months.

“The economy has clearly slipped into a mild jobs recession because the housing meltdown and credit market turmoil has spread to the broader economy,” Steven A. Wood of Insight Economics wrote in an analysis. “Persistent job losses will eventually pull the overall economy into recession.”

A 5.5 percent unemployment rate is low by historical standards, but continued payroll cuts — in manufacturing, construction, retail and temporary help services — signal a recessionary job market.

One small bright spot in the May report was the continued addition of jobs in the health care sector.

Overall, joblessness rose partly because of payroll cuts and partly because of an increase in new entrants and re-entrants to the labor force. New entrants traditionally increase in May as students look for work at the end of the school year.

The teen unemployment rate jumped from 15.4 percent in April to 18.7 percent in May.
“That tells you something about what’s happening at the family level,” said David Rosenberg, North American economist at Merrill Lynch & Co. “Parents are telling their kids to look for work, and the jobs aren’t there.”

More than a half million new and re-entering workers searched for jobs in May, according to preliminary estimates. In all, about 861,000 more workers were out of work and looking for jobs than in April.

In the Kansas City area, one indicator of increased joblessness is higher attendance at job loss support groups.

Laura Johannesmeyer, who leads one of the largest such groups through the community career services office at Johnson County Community College, said attendance at the weekly “job club” meetings was nearly double in May what it was earlier this year.

“It’s mainly (because of) layoffs,” Johannesmeyer said. “I’m not seeing retirees re-entering the job market or students. It’s mostly mid-career people. But we are seeing some success in landing good jobs. In that respect, it’s better than 2003, when we were just seeing layoffs.”
Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy organization, repeated a call for Congress to authorize extended unemployment benefits to jobless workers who have exhausted their state benefits.

State unemployment checks are capped at 26 weeks. More than 18 percent of job hunters nationally have been out of work for 27 weeks or more.

“The House of Representatives should join the Senate, which voted … to extend benefits, and pass an extension,” Owens said, noting that emergency federal benefits were a part of the economic recovery package in the previous recession.

The report also sounded a sour economic note for many workers who continue to be employed. Adjusted for inflation, average earnings are falling below the pace of price increases.
In the last 12 months, average hourly earnings rose 3.5 percent, while the inflation rate has been rising at a nearly 4 percent pace.

Average weekly earnings rose 3.2 percent, the statistics bureau said.


Slicing and dicing employment data The economy shed 49,000 jobs in May. So far this year, employment is off 324,000 jobs. Construction, manufacturing, retail trade and temporary help lost jobs, while health care again added jobs.

•Construction fell by 34,000. Since an employment peak in September 2006, construction has lost 475,000 jobs as the housing market has tumbled. Residential construction shed 19,000 jobs, and non-residential was off 12,000 jobs.

•Manufacturing employment continued to fall, losing 26,000 jobs, including 8,000 jobs lost in computer manufacturing. So far in 2008, monthly job losses in manufacturing have averaged 41,000, compared with 22,000 a month in 2007 and 14,000 a month in 2006. With further cuts in the auto industry, this category can expect to fall further in coming months.

•Retail trade employment decreased by 27,000, with most of the decline coming from department stores, down 15,000, and gas stations, off 6,000.

•Since March 2007, retail trade has shed 184,000 jobs.
•Professional services, which is getting rid of financial sector jobs, was off 39,000 in May. Once a bright spot, the industry has lost 24,000 jobs in 2008 alone.
•Health care added 34,000 in May and 383,000 jobs in the last 12 months.
•Also in the service sector, restaurants and bars continued an upward trend.

The Star’s wire services contributed to this report. To reach Diane Stafford, call 816-234-4359 or send e-mail to stafford@kcstar.com.

Manufacturers account for 24% of fourth-quarter layoffs

In the fourth quarter of 2007, there were 1,619 mass layoff events that resulted in the separation of 265,454 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released February 14 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The construction industry experienced a record high in both layoff events and separations in the fourth quarter of 2007. Other industries registering fourth-quarter highs in terms of separated workers were arts, entertainment and recreation, and finance and insurance, the latter mostly due to higher layoff activity in credit intermediation and related activities. Both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were lower than during the October-December 2006 time period.

Among the seven categories of economic reasons for layoff, the completion of seasonal work accounted for the highest share of events (42 percent) and number of separations (119,325) in October-December 2007. Layoffs due to business demand reasons had the next highest proportion of events (34 percent). The only category of economic reasons for which the number of separations increased over the year was financial issues.

Sixty-one extended mass layoff events involved the movement of work and were associated with the separation of 10,076 workers. These events accounted for 7 percent of the non-seasonal layoff events and non-seasonal separations.

Permanent closure of worksites occurred in 8 percent of all extended mass layoff events, the lowest proportion reported since collection began in 1996. Events involving permanent closures affected 27,723 workers, down from 43,158 separations reported during the fourth quarter 2006. Fifty-six percent of employers reporting an extended layoff in the fourth quarter of 2007 indicated they anticipated some type of recall, about the same as last year.

The national unemployment rate averaged 4.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted, in the fourth quarter of 2007, up from 4.2 percent a year earlier. Private non-farm payroll employment, not seasonally adjusted, increased by 0.9 percent, or about 1.1 million, over the year.

For all of 2007, the total number of extended mass layoff events was 5,170, affecting 931,053 workers. While the total number of layoff events increased in 2007 from a year earlier, the number of separations decreased over the period.

Industry Distribution of Extended Layoffs
Manufacturing accounted for 24 percent of events and 27 percent of separations in the fourth quarter, largely in food manufacturing and transportation equipment manufacturing. Layoffs in the administrative and waste services sector accounted for 8 percent of all extended mass layoff events and 7 percent of separations. The layoffs in this sector were concentrated in landscaping services. Cutbacks in the finance and insurance sector accounted for 6 percent of events and separations and were primarily in the credit intermediation and related activities industry.

Construction industries experienced a record high number of extended mass layoff events (622) and separations (78,716) in the fourth quarter of 2007. The largest number of separations was in heavy and civil engineering construction (44,151, mostly associated with highway, street and bridge construction), followed by specialty trade contractors (22,559) and construction of buildings (12,006).

Information technology-producing industries (communications equipment, communications services, computer hardware, and software and computer services) accounted for 24 extended mass layoff events and 3,351 separations during the fourth quarter of 2007, the lowest figures reported for any quarter since 2000.

Read the full report and view all of the data tables by clicking on the link below:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mslo.htm

Manufacturers account for 24% of fourth-quarter layoffs

n the fourth quarter of 2007, there were 1,619 mass layoff events that resulted in the separation of 265,454 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released February 14 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The construction industry experienced a record high in both layoff events and separations in the fourth quarter of 2007. Other industries registering fourth-quarter highs in terms of separated workers were arts, entertainment and recreation, and finance and insurance, the latter mostly due to higher layoff activity in credit intermediation and related activities. Both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were lower than during the October-December 2006 time period.



Among the seven categories of economic reasons for layoff, the completion of seasonal work accounted for the highest share of events (42 percent) and number of separations (119,325) in October-December 2007. Layoffs due to business demand reasons had the next highest proportion of events (34 percent). The only category of economic reasons for which the number of separations increased over the year was financial issues.



Sixty-one extended mass layoff events involved the movement of work and were associated with the separation of 10,076 workers. These events accounted for 7 percent of the non-seasonal layoff events and non-seasonal separations.



Permanent closure of worksites occurred in 8 percent of all extended mass layoff events, the lowest proportion reported since collection began in 1996. Events involving permanent closures affected 27,723 workers, down from 43,158 separations reported during the fourth quarter 2006. Fifty-six percent of employers reporting an extended layoff in the fourth quarter of 2007 indicated they anticipated some type of recall, about the same as last year.



The national unemployment rate averaged 4.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted, in the fourth quarter of 2007, up from 4.2 percent a year earlier. Private non-farm payroll employment, not seasonally adjusted, increased by 0.9 percent, or about 1.1 million, over the year.



For all of 2007, the total number of extended mass layoff events was 5,170, affecting 931,053 workers. While the total number of layoff events increased in 2007 from a year earlier, the number of separations decreased over the period.



Industry Distribution of Extended Layoffs

Manufacturing accounted for 24 percent of events and 27 percent of separations in the fourth quarter, largely in food manufacturing and transportation equipment manufacturing. Layoffs in the administrative and waste services sector accounted for 8 percent of all extended mass layoff events and 7 percent of separations. The layoffs in this sector were concentrated in landscaping services. Cutbacks in the finance and insurance sector accounted for 6 percent of events and separations and were primarily in the credit intermediation and related activities industry.



Construction industries experienced a record high number of extended mass layoff events (622) and separations (78,716) in the fourth quarter of 2007. The largest number of separations was in heavy and civil engineering construction (44,151, mostly associated with highway, street and bridge construction), followed by specialty trade contractors (22,559) and construction of buildings (12,006).



Information technology-producing industries (communications equipment, communications services, computer hardware, and software and computer services) accounted for 24 extended mass layoff events and 3,351 separations during the fourth quarter of 2007, the lowest figures reported for any quarter since 2000.



Read the full report and view all of the data tables by clicking on the link below:



http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mslo.htm

Less Jobs, More Worries

Andrew Farrell, 08.01.07, 1:50 PM ET

It might be time to add job growth to the housing and credit worries looming over equity markets. U.S. employment grew at its weakest rate in four years according to a report published Wednesday based on payroll data.

Non-farm private employment grew by 48,000 during July according to an analysis of payroll provider ADP's U.S. business clients by Macroeconomic Advisers. The growth is the smallest increase since July 2003 and plummeted from a June increase of 150,000. (See: "Rising Bond Yields Hold Back Stocks")

Joel Prakken, Chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, said employment growth was dragged down by slowing economic growth and weaker hiring from home construction and auto builders. He said those factors will probably keep employment growth weak for the next few months but predicted a rebound in early 2008.

Weaker employment from the home construction industry comes as little surprise. Homebuilders like Lennar (nyse: LEN - news - people ) have reeled from a weak housing market and have cut back dramatically on construction. Their woes continued Wednesday when Beazer Homes (nyse: BZH - news - people ) lost over a third of its market value in minutes on rumors that builder was about to file for bankruptcy protection. (See: "Beazer Plunges On Rumors")

The weak July ADP numbers forbodes a disappointing surprise from the non-farm payrolls data that will be released this Friday by the Department of Labor. Consensus expectations for the Labor Department Data, which includes government employment, is 135,000. The ADP report shows July job growth of 75,000 when including government employment.

The weak employment data could indicate further sluggishness in the U.S. economy and encouraged a flight to quality Wednesday. Investors put money in government bonds and pushed the yields on ten year treasuries down 0.24% to 4.75%.

Interpreting The Employment Data

Jeff Miller submits: Today's payroll employment report showed solid job gains as well as upward revisions to prior months.

Econocator has a very nice summary of viewpoints, well worth the look. It does not include the (predictable) Doug Kass viewpoint, described on CNBC's Kudlow show, that these were all government, health and restaurant jobs, actually calling into question cyclical economic strength.
Before the report was released, Barry Ritholtz did a preview (both on RealMoney and The Big Picture) where he raised some interesting questions about how to reconcile the reported job gains, low unemployment, and little wage pressure.

Take a look at Barry's good questions.

Here is the response that I posted on RealMoney (subscription required, and worth it for active traders):

As usual, Barry raises some good questions related to this month's non-farm payroll report. He is especially interested in the apparent discrepancies between the payroll report and the unemployment rate. We'll see a parade of (non-vacationing) economists today along with weekend commentary parsing the data. Much of the interest is in what the implications are for future Fed policy.

When I want to predict institutional policy, I always look for information about its members.

How FOMC members look at employment is more interesting to me than how outside economists or pundits see it.

With that in mind, I see one factor that might help answer Barry's question. Barry "sets the bar" for required job growth at a monthly gain of 150K jobs -- needed just to keep up with population growth and inflation. That 150K growth rate has been a traditional rule of thumb.

The Fed members no longer share that view. Because boomers are taking early retirement, the labor force growth dynamics have changed. The estimates of necessary growth include 110K (Fed staff via Bies in November), 130K (Bernanke one year ago), and 100K (Moskow last August). This suggests that this year's job gains, averaging over 145K for the first half, indicate solid growth.

The decision to take early retirement is also not a binary one. I'm at an age where I have many friends who have retired from one job, yet still do some work. They often do not show up in a payroll job, but would say they are employed if asked in a survey. If they do not work, they drop out of the labor force. If compensation gets high enough, they re-enter. The same is true of young people choosing between education and work. This kind of flexibility in labor force participation relieves some of the wage pressure.

Fed members, both individually and collectively, seem pretty satisfied with how their policy has worked so far. There is no reason to expect an imminent change.

Later in the day, Greg Ip at the Wall Street Journal had a nice analysis, citing several sources on labor force participation. This is quite consistent with our argument.

Conclusion
There is a huge error band in payroll employment numbers. Barry's questions are good ones. The birth/death model adds jobs based upon the experience from the last few years. This could change. We will not see the "benchmark revisions" until October.

Having acknowledged this, the other economic indicators that relate to payrolls, described in our own preview, suggest that the economy and employment growth are still quite strong.

Anyone trying to find weakness in this report should be addressing the strength in the ISM manufacturing and service indicators, the yield curve, the Baltic Dry Freight indicator, Dr. Copper, the weekly jobless claims, and other economic measures formerly cited when they supported their viewpoints.

As usual, at "A Dash" we try to look for the best evidence. In particular, we try to understand how the Fed Open Market Committee looks at the data. There is a very good reason for this.

They set the policy!

May, 2007

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job creation during April, 2007 was fewer than 100000 jobs. ADP, which handles payroll services for so many businesses estimated that job creation was actually closer to 66000 jobs.

So why does every business in the US and every employment agency, search firm and temporary agency complain that there are not enough job applicants available to fill their job openings?

Go to websites that recruiters frequent and the story is the same--we are trying to fill positions. Where can we find someone with ____ experience? Companies are contacting recruiters and begging for help.

So where is the disconnect with the government numbers?

The government numbers are right but the interpretation of the numbers by the press is wrong.

We have a labor shortage.

After all the hubbub (or was it a hullaballoo) about all the jobs going to India, the US economy is finding it hard to find enough people for the work that it needs done.

Did you know that the US employs more IT workers today than it did at the time the last recession started? That little tidbit has been buried in the wake of fear about a housing market collapse that hasn't happened, the sub-prime mess and the stories about the failure of the war in Iraq.

And we still only admit 65000 new H-1b workers into the US. As a result, we are way short of what we would have working here if the protectionist cuts wasn't passed during the last recession.

You see, up until that time, we had over 200000 workers arriving in the US. That means we have been short over 135000 workers per year for the passed 5 years--or 750000 workers sicne the cuts went into effect.

You think business could have used a few of those?

Anyway, salaries are pushing up in almost all fields as firms try to cope with the shortages. Individuals with H-1b visas are no no longer being treated poorly at employment firms. Some of you may remember the days when the call would go something like this, " Do you have a visa? Sorry, we can't help you."

Now, more and more calls go, "Do you have a visa? No problem. The client will do a transfer."

And for those of you who resent that jobs go to people with visas, the reason is not the desire for cheap labor; it is because the people have the skills that firms want and you don't.

So, it's time to increase H-1b visa admissions to the US and offer businesses the skilled labor they need to face the demands that we will have in the next decade.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Housing slump weighs on April job growth

Jobless rate up to 4.5 percent; payroll growth slowest in two years

By John W. Schoen

Senior Producer

MSNBC

Updated: 12:54 p.m. CT May 4, 2007

The government reported Friday that the economy added just 88,000 jobs last month, the slowest pace of job creation in more than two years, as an ongoing housing slump continued to put a damper on the pace of hiring and business growth.

The jobs growth slowdown nudged the nation's unemployment rate up to 4.5 percent. Friday’s report also said the number of new jobs in February and March turned out to be weaker than originally reported. Gains in workers’ wages also slowed in April.

The report adds to evidence of a slowing economy. The nation's gross domestic product grew at a sluggish 1.3 percent rate in the first quarter, the weakest in four years, the government reported last week. That slow growth is expected to continue at least until the housing industry recovers. Many economists suggest that a prolonged slowdown could help work off the excesses of the housing boom and prevent the economy from tipping into a recession.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke believes the economy will avoid falling into a recession this year, although his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, has put the odds of a recession at one in three.

The weak jobs report bolsters the widely held view that the Federal Reserve will leave the key federal funds interest rate at 5.25 percent when it meets Wednesday. The Fed has held the rate steady since last August, ending a two-year string of rate increases intended to ward off inflation.

As expected, Friday’s report showed the construction and manufacturing sectors were hit hard in April, with a net loss of 29,000 jobs for the month.

Until recently, despite a steep downturn in home sales and housing starts, jobs in housing-related sectors had been holding up fairly well. While the market seemed to be recovering at the beginning of the year, it now appears many parts of the housing industry — from contractors to real estate agents to building supply companies — have been holding out for an upturn.

“These folks were waiting for the pickup in construction in the spring and summer, and that’s not happening,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s.com. “It was a great run, a lot of money was made and people are just reluctant to leave the industry. And it has taken a while for them to adjust their thinking with respect to future of the industry and their prospects for gainful employment.”

Forecasts vary on the timing of a housing industry turnaround, but many homebuilders and economists say it probably won’t happen before at least early 2008.

“It will probably take about a year before housing reaches the outright bottom,” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp. “But the biggest drag on the economy will be behind us by the middle of this year.”

Friday’s jobs report showed a net loss of 19,000 manufacturing jobs in April, as the job outlook for factory workers continues to deteriorate, especially in the auto industry.

With U.S. manufacturing still in decline, prospects for future job growth depend heavily on the U.S. consumer continuing to spend. The latest data show spending holding up, but barely. In March, consumer spending edged higher but posted its weakest gain in five months in part because higher gasoline prices put a crimp in household budgets.

The slowdown in wages reported in Friday’s employment report could further dampen spending. Average hourly earnings rose to $17.25 in April, a 0.2 percent increase from March. Economists were expecting a modest 0.3 percent rise. Over the past 12 months, wages grew by 3.7 percent, the slowest annual increase in a year.

Household budgets are already showing other, long-term signs of stress, according to Brian Fabbri, chief economist with BNP Paribas.

“We’ve never seen this much increase in debt relative to income, and we’ve never seen the proportion of current income that has to service that debt,” he said. “The consumer has dipped into saving in a meaningful way — we’ve had 20 months in a row of negative savings. That can’t go on forever because you just exhaust savings.”

Friday’s report showed the job losses spreading beyond manufacturing and construction and into retailing and financial services.

But health care and education, leisure and hospitality, government and various professional and business services were among the sectors adding positions.

The relatively strong outlook for service jobs was boosted by a report Thursday from the Institute for Supply Management, an industry group that publishes a widely watched index of business activity. That index rebounded strongly in April, posting its biggest gain in year, with the finance and insurance industry among those sectors reporting growth.

“[That’s] a positive indication that the sharp escalation of subprime mortgage problems in February and March may have peaked at the end of March and abated somewhat in recent weeks,” wrote economist Brian Bethune of Global Insight.

But it remains to be seen whether the financial impact of the collapse of subprime lending has run its course. That’s because many of these mortgages were bundled into pools of loans, chopped up into securities and sold off to investors and hedge funds. Because the holders of these so-called “collateralized debt obligations” can delay taking losses, it may be some months before the full impact of the subprime mortgage meltdown is known

“They can hold on for some time as credit quality continues to erode,” said Zandi.

The Swiss bank UBS became the latest casualty of the U.S. mortgage market when it surprised investors Thursday by reporting lower first quarter profits and said it was closing down its Dillon Read hedge fund because of heavy losses in subprime loans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

High-tech job growth picked up in 2006, says AeA

By ESM Staff Electronics Supply & Manufacturing (04/25/2007 12:55 AM EST)

Demand for high-tech workers, including those in the engineering field, is rising so rapidly that employers are scrambling to fill vacancies despite being willing to pay well above private sector wages, according to the American Electronics Association.

The AeA's latest analysis of 2006 employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates most segments of the high-tech sector are in a state of full employment confirming recent comments by industry leaders that many critical high-tech positions are remaining vacant for far too long.

Engineers in the electronics industry who have complained about the relocation of manufacturing and design services to overseas locations will be surprised that the impact of outsourcing on employment in the sector has been negligible.

According to the Labor Dept. data, the unemployment rate for U.S. engineers in 2006 was 1.9 percent and 2.5 percent for computer scientists, both well below the national average.

Overall, high-tech companies added almost 150,000 net jobs in 2006, up 3 percent from the preceding year, to 5.8 million, according to the AeA, which observed that the software services sector accounted for more than half of the hiring. In 2005, high-tech employment rose 87,400.

"We have some serious challenges ahead," said William T. Archey, president of the AeA, in a statement. "Companies of all sizes continue to have problems recruiting highly qualified and educated individuals to work for them, whether those individuals are foreign or domestic."

The AeA noted that the 2006 average annual high-tech wage of $75,000 was "86 percent more than the average U.S. private sector wage," of $40,500.

That's not the only area where the high-tech sector is the clear leader. Venture capital investors are directing more of their resources to the sector, according to the AeA. In 2006, for instance, the high-tech sector received more than half of all U.S. venture capital investments or about $12.7 billion.

The Employment Situation from the BLS

To view the tables referred to in the report, go to the website referenced by the link


Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 180,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment increased in construction, retail trade, and health care. The number of manufacturing jobs continued to trend down. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.


Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
In March, the number of unemployed persons (6.7 million) and the unemployment rate (4.4 percent) were essentially unchanged. The jobless rate has remained within a narrow range—4.4 to 4.6 percent— since September 2006. Over the month, the unemployment rate for most major worker groups—adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.8 percent), teenagers (14.5 percent), blacks (8.3 percent), and Hispanics (5.1 percent)—showed little or no change. The jobless rate for whites decreased to 3.8 percent. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.0 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.) In March, the number of unemployed job losers and persons who had completed temporary jobs declined by 215,000. The number of unemployed persons who had been jobless for less than 5 weeks also fell, by 273,000. (See tables A-8 and A-9.)


Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Both total employment, at 146.3 million, and the employment-population ratio, at 63.3 percent, were essentially unchanged in March. Over the month, the labor force participation rate held steady at 66.2 percent, about the same as a year earlier. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in March—essentially unchanged from a year earlier. These individuals 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 marginally attached, there were 381,000 discouraged workers in March, down slightly from a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The remaining 1.0 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in March had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
In March, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 180,000 to 137.6 million, after seasonal adjustment. This increase followed gains of 162,000 in January and 113,000 in February (as revised). Over the year, total nonfarm employment rose by about 2.0 million. In March, construction employment rose sharply, following a large decline in the prior month. A sizable job gain also occurred in general merchandise stores in March, and job growth continued in health care and in food services. Manufacturing employment continued to trend down over the month. (See table B-1.) Construction employment increased by 56,000 in March, mostly offsetting a decline of 61,000 in February. Unusually adverse weather likely contributed to February’s decline. Overall, the construction industry has shown no net growth since employment peaked in September 2006. Over this span, job gains in the nonresidential components of construction have been more than offset by losses in the residential components.

Within retail trade, employment in general merchandise stores rose by 36,000 in March and by 81,000 in the first quarter of this year. Despite the recent growth, employment in general merchandise stores was little changed over the year. Elsewhere in retail trade, employment in building material and garden supply stores has declined by 15,000 since reaching its peak in October 2006.

Employment in health care continued to increase in March with a gain of 30,000; over the year, the industry added 348,000 jobs. In March, offices of physicians and hospitals added 9,000 jobs each, while nursing and residential care facilities added 7,000. Food services and drinking places also continued to add jobs in March (+19,000). Over the year, employment in the industry grew by 335,000.

Professional and business services employment was essentially unchanged in March and over the first quarter of 2007. The industry added half a million jobs in 2006. In March, employment continued to expand in computer systems design and in management and technical consulting services, but those job gains were offset by small job losses in accounting and bookkeeping and in employment services.

Manufacturing employment continued to trend down over the month (-16,000), with declines in furniture and related products (-4,000), computer and electronic products (-4,000), textile mills (-2,000), and paper and paper products (-2,000).

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.9 hours in March, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.2 hour to 41.1 hours, and manufacturing overtime increased by 0.1 hour to 4.3 hours. (See table B-2.) The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.6 percent in March to 107.3 (2002=100). The manufacturing index was up by 0.2 percent over the month to 95.2. (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 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, in March to $17.22, seasonally adjusted. During the first quarter of 2007, average hourly earnings rose by 15 cents; in 2006, hourly earnings growth averaged 18 cents per quarter. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.6 percent over the month to $583.76. Over the year, average hourly and weekly earnings grew by 4.0 and 4.4 percent, respectively. (See table B-3.)