Jobs 288K - UE 5.6% - Daschle Saddenned

Bureau of Labor ^ | 5/7/2004 | BLS

[Tennessean4Bush]

Employment Situation Summary

Technical information:
   Household data:  (202) 691-6378   USDL 04-818
           http://www.bls.gov/cps/

Establishment data: 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release is http://www.bls.gov/ces/ embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT), Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, May 7, 2004.

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: APRIL 2004

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 288,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The April in- crease in payroll employment follows a gain of 337,000 in March, and job growth again was widespread. In April, employment rose substantially in several service-providing industries, construction continued to add jobs, and there was a noteworthy job gain in durable goods manufacturing.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the unemployment rate, 5.6 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, 8.2 million, were essentially unchanged in April. The unemployment rate has been either 5.6 or 5.7 percent since last December. The unemploy- ment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.0 percent), adult women (5.0 percent), teenagers (16.9 percent), whites (4.9 percent), blacks (9.7 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.2 percent)--were little changed over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.4 percent in April, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or longer declined by 188,000 to 1.8 million in April. These long-term unemployed persons accounted for 22.1 percent of the total unemployed. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment was 138.6 million in April, and the employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--was about unchanged at 62.2 percent. The civilian labor force held at 146.7 million in April, and the civilian labor force participation rate was 65.9 percent for the third straight month. (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 April, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not sea- sonally 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 492,000 discouraged workers in April, also about the same as a year earlier. Discouraged 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 1.0 million marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

- 2 -

Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted (Numbers in thousands) ______________________________________________________________________________ | Quarterly | | | averages | Monthly data | |_________________|__________________________| Mar.- Category | 2003 | 2004 1/| 2004 | Apr. |________|________|__________________________|change | IV | I | Feb. | Mar. | Apr. | _________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______ HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status |____________________________________________________ Civilian labor force.....| 146,986| 146,661| 146,471| 146,650| 146,741| 91 Employment.............| 138,369| 138,388| 138,301| 138,298| 138,576| 278 Unemployment...........| 8,616| 8,273| 8,170| 8,352| 8,164| -188 Not in labor force.......| 75,290| 75,695| 75,886| 75,900| 76,016| 116 |________|________|________|________|________|_______ | Unemployment rates |____________________________________________________ All workers..............| 5.9| 5.6| 5.6| 5.7| 5.6| -0.1 Adult men..............| 5.5| 5.1| 5.1| 5.2| 5.0| -.2 Adult women............| 5.1| 5.0| 4.9| 5.1| 5.0| -.1 Teenagers..............| 16.3| 16.6| 16.6| 16.5| 16.9| .4 White..................| 5.1| 5.0| 4.9| 5.1| 4.9| -.2 Black or African | | | | | | American.............| 10.7| 10.1| 9.8| 10.2| 9.7| -.5 Hispanic or Latino | | | | | | ethnicity............| 7.1| 7.4| 7.4| 7.4| 7.2| -.2 |________|________|________|________|________|_______ ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment |____________________________________________________ Nonfarm employment.......| 130,002|p130,362| 130,277|p130,614|p130,902| p288 Goods-producing 2/.....| 21,676| p21,715| 21,684| p21,766| p21,808| p42 Construction.........| 6,766| p6,820| 6,791| p6,856| p6,874| p18 Manufacturing........| 14,340| p14,322| 14,321| p14,330| p14,351| p21 Service-providing 2/...| 108,326|p108,646| 108,593|p108,848|p109,094| p246 Retail trade.........| 14,915| p14,972| 14,963| p15,009| p15,033| 3/ p23 Professional and | | | | | | business services..| 16,114| p16,206| 16,196| p16,250| p16,373| p123 Education and health | | | | | | services...........| 16,705| p16,772| 16,764| p16,805| p16,836| p31 Leisure and | | | | | | hospitality........| 12,172| p12,237| 12,229| p12,263| p12,299| p36 Government...........| 21,549| p21,544| 21,539| p21,566| p21,574| p8 |________|________|________|________|________|_______ | Hours of work 4/ |____________________________________________________ Total private............| 33.7| p33.8| 33.8| p33.7| p33.7| p0.0 Manufacturing..........| 40.6| p41.0| 41.0| p40.9| p40.6| p-.3 Overtime.............| 4.4| p4.6| 4.6| p4.6| p4.5| p-.1 |________|________|________|________|________|_______ | Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 4/ |____________________________________________________ Total private............| 98.7| p99.2| 99.2| p99.2| p99.5| p0.3 |________|________|________|________|________|_______ | Earnings 4/ |____________________________________________________ Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | | total private..........| $15.45| p$15.52| $15.52| p$15.54| p$15.59| p$0.05 Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | | total private..........| 520.55| p523.95| 524.58| p523.70| p525.38| p1.68 _________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______

1 Beginning in January 2004, household data reflect revised population controls used in the Current Population Survey. 2 Includes other industries, not shown separately. 3 Change calculated based on unrounded data. 4 Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers. p=preliminary.

- 3 -

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 288,000 in April to 130.9 million, seasonally adjusted. This followed a gain of 337,000 jobs (as re- vised) in March. Since August 2003, payroll employment has risen by 1.1 mil- lion. Over the month, job growth was widespread, including large gains in several service-providing industries, and smaller gains in both construction and manufacturing. (See table B-1.)

In April, employment growth in manufacturing was concentrated in durable goods, which added 20,000 jobs. Most of the gain in durable goods employment occurred in fabricated metal products (10,000) and machinery (4,000). Since January, manufacturing employment has edged up by 37,000 (as revised). Em- ployment in this industry had declined each month from August 2000 through January 2004.

Construction employment edged higher in April, after a substantial gain in the prior month. Since March 2003, the industry has added 213,000 jobs, bring- ing construction employment slightly above its most recent peak in March 2001.

Employment in a number of service-providing industries grew substantially over the month. Professional and business services employment rose by 123,000 in April. Within this sector, increases occurred in employment ser- vices (60,000), services to buildings and dwellings (30,000), management and technical consulting services (8,000), and architectural and engineering ser- vices (7,000). Within employment services, temporary help services added 35,000 jobs in April and 261,000 over the year.

Retail trade employment edged up in April, with gains in building material and garden supply stores, general merchandise stores, and motor vehicle and parts dealers. Over the year, retail trade has added 103,000 jobs, with much of the gain (72,000) occurring in building material and garden supply stores. Wholesale trade employment was little changed in April, but has risen by 49,000 since October.

Employment increased by 30,000 in health care and social assistance over the month. Since April 2003, this industry has gained 252,000 jobs. In com- parison, the industry added 381,000 jobs from April 2002 to April 2003. Over the month, employment rose in hospitals and in ambulatory health care services (such as doctors' offices and outpatient care centers).

In the leisure and hospitality sector, food services added 34,000 jobs in April. Since December, growth in food services employment has averaged 28,000 per month, about twice the average monthly gain of 2003.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in April, at 33.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.3 hour to 40.6 hours. Manufacturing overtime edged down over the month to 4.5 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory work- ers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.3 percent in April to 99.5 (2002=100). The manufacturing index was down by 0.5 percent over the month to 93.8. (See table B-5.)

- 4 -

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in April to $15.59, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.3 percent over the month to $525.38. Over the year, average hourly earnings grew by 2.2 percent, and average weekly earnings increased by 2.5 percent. (See table B-3.)

______________________________

The Employment Situation for May 2004 is scheduled to be released on Friday, June 4, at 8:30 A.M. (EDT).

• Employment Situation Explanatory Note
• Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
• Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age
• Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age
• Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment
• Table A-5. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status
• Table A-6. Selected employment indicators
• Table A-7. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
• Table A-8. Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment
• Table A-9. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment
• Table A-10. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-11. Unemployed persons by industry, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-12. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
• Table A-13. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
• Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
• Table B-2. Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
• Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
• Table B-4. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-5. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
• Table B-6. Indexes of aggregate weekly payrolls of production or nonsupervisory workers1 on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
• Table B-7. Diffusion indexes of employment change, seasonally adjusted
  
• Text version of entire news release
  
• Access to historical data for the "A" tables of the Employment Situation Release
• Access to historical data for the "B" tables of the Employment Situation Release

Table of Contents

Last Modified Date: May 07, 2004

[Tennessean4Bush]

bttt mice elf

[KellyAdmirer]

Big numbers, even last month's big numbers were revised higher, 627k new jobs added in two months. The John Kerry campaign has to be wondering what to say about this, the report is solid across the board.

[jwalsh07]

Yeah but the 288,000 includes the striking workers who returned to work at Mom and Pops Bait&Tackle shop.

[Tennessean4Bush]

ROTFLMAO!

[Tennessean4Bush]

Big numbers, even last month's big numbers were revised higher, 627k new jobs added in two months. The John Kerry campaign has to be wondering what to say about this, the report is solid across the board.

I am looking for the obligatory Daschle picture. Where is it?

[Tennessean4Bush]

Table A.  Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
______________________________________________________________________________
                         |    Quarterly    |                          |
                         |    averages     |        Monthly data      |
                         |_________________|__________________________| Mar.-
        Category         |  2003  | 2004 1/|           2004           | Apr.
                         |________|________|__________________________|change
                         |   IV   |   I    |  Feb.  |  Mar.  |  Apr.  |
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
     HOUSEHOLD DATA      |                Labor force status
                         |____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force.....| 146,986| 146,661| 146,471| 146,650| 146,741|     91
  Employment.............| 138,369| 138,388| 138,301| 138,298| 138,576|    278
  Unemployment...........|   8,616|   8,273|   8,170|   8,352|   8,164|   -188
Not in labor force.......|  75,290|  75,695|  75,886|  75,900|  76,016|    116
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |                 Unemployment rates
                         |____________________________________________________
All workers..............|     5.9|     5.6|     5.6|     5.7|     5.6|   -0.1
  Adult men..............|     5.5|     5.1|     5.1|     5.2|     5.0|    -.2
  Adult women............|     5.1|     5.0|     4.9|     5.1|     5.0|    -.1
  Teenagers..............|    16.3|    16.6|    16.6|    16.5|    16.9|     .4
  White..................|     5.1|     5.0|     4.9|     5.1|     4.9|    -.2
  Black or African       |        |        |        |        |        |
    American.............|    10.7|    10.1|     9.8|    10.2|     9.7|    -.5
  Hispanic or Latino     |        |        |        |        |        |
    ethnicity............|     7.1|     7.4|     7.4|     7.4|     7.2|    -.2
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
  ESTABLISHMENT DATA     |                     Employment
                         |____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment.......| 130,002|p130,362| 130,277|p130,614|p130,902|   p288
  Goods-producing 2/.....|  21,676| p21,715|  21,684| p21,766| p21,808|    p42
    Construction.........|   6,766|  p6,820|   6,791|  p6,856|  p6,874|    p18
    Manufacturing........|  14,340| p14,322|  14,321| p14,330| p14,351|    p21
  Service-providing 2/...| 108,326|p108,646| 108,593|p108,848|p109,094|   p246
    Retail trade.........|  14,915| p14,972|  14,963| p15,009| p15,033| 3/ p23
    Professional and     |        |        |        |        |        |
      business services..|  16,114| p16,206|  16,196| p16,250| p16,373|   p123
    Education and health |        |        |        |        |        |
      services...........|  16,705| p16,772|  16,764| p16,805| p16,836|    p31
    Leisure and          |        |        |        |        |        |
      hospitality........|  12,172| p12,237|  12,229| p12,263| p12,299|    p36
    Government...........|  21,549| p21,544|  21,539| p21,566| p21,574|     p8
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |                  Hours of work 4/
                         |____________________________________________________
Total private............|    33.7|   p33.8|    33.8|   p33.7|   p33.7|   p0.0
  Manufacturing..........|    40.6|   p41.0|    41.0|   p40.9|   p40.6|   p-.3
    Overtime.............|     4.4|    p4.6|     4.6|    p4.6|    p4.5|   p-.1
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |    Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 4/
                         |____________________________________________________
Total private............|    98.7|   p99.2|    99.2|   p99.2|   p99.5|   p0.3
                         |________|________|________|________|________|_______
                         |                    Earnings 4/
                         |____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings,    |        |        |        |        |        |
  total private..........|  $15.45| p$15.52|  $15.52| p$15.54| p$15.59| p$0.05
Avg. weekly earnings,    |        |        |        |        |        |
  total private..........|  520.55| p523.95|  524.58| p523.70| p525.38|  p1.68
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______

   1  Beginning in January 2004, household data reflect revised population
controls used in the Current Population Survey.
   2  Includes other industries, not shown separately.
   3  Change calculated based on unrounded data.
   4  Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
   p=preliminary.

[samtheman]

Isn't there something wrong with this title:

Jobs 288K - UE 5.6% - Daschle Saddened

Shouldn't it read:

Daschle deeply saddened

[Tennessean4Bush]

I believe this puts us over the 1 million mark over the last 8 months, but I will have to check.

[Maceman]

I am looking for the obligatory Daschle picture. Where is it?

Well, I don't have the Daschle puc, but I'm guessing John Kerry is deeply saddened too.

[Tennessean4Bush]

Darn, you are right. I am not paying enough attention. Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall at Kerry campaign HQ today?

[Tennessean4Bush]

Kerry had to go change his pants! Over 600K jobs in two months!

[Tennessean4Bush]

2-3 more months of jobs reports like this and he can kiss his campaign goodbye!

[Callahan]

But Air America can't make payroll. That proves the economy sucks, right Sen. Kerry?

[Callahan]

Now Kerry will have to focus on demonizing US soldiers in Iraq as war criminals. But wait, he's a self-professed war criminal. I'm confused.

[dartuser]

Rush will probably raise the John Kerry suicide level to Orange this afternoon over these jobs numbers ...

Perhaphs this is why the liberals are hyping up the prisoner abuse issue ... they know the jobs number will be the beginning of the end for John Kerry ... and Hillary probably just bowed out of the Veep race ...

I saw a comment on Fox News from an emailer this morning ... it went something like this ...

"It is a shame that the President has to fight 2 wars, one on terror and one at home ..."

[Callahan]

Rahm Emmanuel is on Bloomberg spinning hard. He looks desperate.

[Tennessean4Bush]

By LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer

WASHINGTON - Employers added 288,000 jobs to their payrolls in April as the nation's unemployment rate slipped to 5.6 percent, reinforcing hopes for a sustained turnaround in the jobs market that had lagged for so long.

Reuters Photo

Premium Video:
	Employment Report Roundtable (Platinum - fee)

Related Quotes
DJIA NASDAQ ^SPC	10241.26 1937.74 N/A	0.00 0.00 N/A

delayed 20 mins - disclaimer
Quote Data provided by Reuters

Related Links

•	Productivity and Costs Report [PDF] (Labor Dept.)

Payrolls have risen now for eight straight months, with 867,000 new jobs created so far this year, the Labor Department (news - web sites) reported Friday. The strengthening jobs market comes just in time to aid President Bush (news - web sites)'s re-election efforts, which were in question a few months ago based on his economic record.

Bush is on track to be the first president since the Great Depression to have lost jobs under his watch. But the spate of hiring gains in recent months have shrank those losses to about 1.5 million.

Hiring was widespread last month, with the service sector leading the way. Professional and business services employment rose substantially, by 123,000. In that category, gains were in employment services, including temporary help firms, services to buildings and dwellings, management and technical consulting services and architectural and engineering services.

[samtheman]

Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall at Kerry campaign HQ today?

Actually, I'd like to have a miniature web-cam (with sound). Catching their evil words for all Americans to hear. I wouldn't be surprised to hear them plotting what they can do (with the help of Benedict Soros) to throw the economy into a tailspin.

[G Larry]

Selfish me, "saddened".

I'M TRYING TO LOCK A MORTGAGE RATE!!!

ya, i know...."greater good"......