Nonfarm payroll employment rose in June, and the unemployment rate increased to 5.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The total number of payroll jobs increased by 217,000; private-sector employment rose by 151,000.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons rose by 302,000 in June to 6.8 million, seasonally adjusted, and the unemployment rate increased by two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.0 percent. Among the major demographic groups, the jobless rate for adult men rose by 0.4 percentage point to 4.2 percent, after declining by the same magnitude in May. An increase in the jobless rate for whites to 4.2 percent in June also reversed a decline in May. Unemployment rates for adult women (4.4 percent), teenagers (16.8 percent), blacks (10.4 percent), and Hispanics (7.6 percent) were essentially unchanged in June.

Among the unemployed, the number of persons who had lost their last jobs and did not expect to be recalled (persons not on temporary layoff) increased by 189,000 to 2.2 million, after seasonal adjustment. The number of persons who had been unemployed for 5 to 14 weeks also increased over the month.

Total Employment And The Labor Force

(Household Survey Data)

Total employment, at a seasonally adjusted level of 129.4 million, was little changed in June. Employment increased by 1.2 million during the first half of the year, after adjusting for the change in population controls made in January.

The number of persons holding more than one job was 8.2 million in June, not seasonally adjusted. These multiple jobholders made up 6.3 percent of all employed persons, 0.3 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

Both the civilian labor force, 136.2 million, and the labor force participation rate, 67.1 percent, were unchanged in June.

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 June; that is, they wanted and were available for work and had looked for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months.

The number of discouraged workers-a subset of the marginally attached who were not currently looking for jobs specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them or there were none for which they would qualify-was 353,000 in June.

Industry Payroll Employment

(Establishment Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 217,000 in June, after seasonal adjustment, about in line with the average monthly job gain (236,000) for the first 5 months of this year. Job gains in the private sector, 151,000, were somewhat smaller than in recent months.

The services industry added 63,000 jobs in June, well below the average monthly gain in the first 5 months of this year (116,000). Health services gained only 8,000 jobs in June compared to an average monthly gain of 21,000 in the first 5 months of the year. Employment in help supply services was about unchanged over the month; between March and June, the industry lost 49,000 jobs. In contrast, strong growth continued in computer and data processing services (11,000) and engineering and management services (14,000). Employment in amusement and recreation services rose by 14,000 in June; since March, job growth in this industry has totaled 60,000.

Retail trade employment rose by 58,000 in June. Within the industry, employment in eating and drinking places increased by 28,000 jobs, after registering little change in May. Food stores and miscellaneous retail establishments also had particularly large employment increases in June.

Both finance and transportation continued to show job growth in June (up by 11,000 each), while employment in wholesale trade showed little change over the month.

Manufacturing employment rose by 14,000, resuming the pace of job increases that occurred in the first 3 months of this year. Job growth continued in industrial machinery (3,000), electronic components (3,000), and aircraft (6,000). In addition, instruments added 4,000 workers in June. Within nondurable goods, printing and publishing added 6,000 jobs in June for a total gain of 16,000 over the past 3 months.

Construction employment was little changed in June, after seasonal adjustment. Some of the weakness was weather related, as evidenced by declines in outdoor construction activities. Employment among general building contractors has shown no net growth since registering a large gain in February.

Government employment rose by 66,000 in June. An increase of 49,000 in local government education followed 3 months with little change in employment; the noneducation component rose by 29,000 in June. Federal government employment continued to decline.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour in June to 34.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek and factory overtime both fell slightly, to 41.9 hours and 4.7 hours, respectively.

The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.4 percent to 140.7 (1982=100) in June, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The manufacturing index declined by 0.3 percent to 108.0.

Hourly And Weekly Earnings

(Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls were up by 4 cents in June to $12.22, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.6 percent to $424.03. Over the past year, both average hourly earnings and average weekly earnings have risen by 3.5 percent.

July 3, 1997            U.S. Department of Labor

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