FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.
                            FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1997


Advance copies of this statement are made available to the
press under lock-up conditions with the explicit
understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Daylight Time.

Statement of

Katharine G. Abraham
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics

before the

Joint Economic Committee

UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Friday, May 2, 1997



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

	I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor

market data released this morning.

Unemployment declined in April, and nonfarm payroll
employment rose.  The unemployment rate dropped by three-
tenths of a percentage point to 4.9 percent; over the prior
10 months, the rate had remained in a narrow range from 5.2
to 5.4 percent.  Payroll employment increased by 142,000 in
April, about the same as in March (as revised), but well
below the growth realized in January and February.
Unfavorable weather during the survey reference periods
dampened construction hiring in both March and April.
In April, employment in the services industry
increased by 93,000.  There were relatively large over-the-
month gains in health services, social services, and
engineering and management services.  Job growth in
computer and data processing services continued at its
steady pace.  In all these industries, employment has been
on an upward trend for many years.  Partly offsetting these
increases in April was a decline in amusement and
recreation services.  Help supply services showed virtually
no change in employment in April.  Although this industry
has been a major contributor to job growth during the 6
years of the current economic expansion, gains since last
August have been both more modest and more sporadic.
In April, each of the major components of finance,
insurance, and real estate added jobs, and employment also
continued to rise in transportation and communications.  In
retail trade, a gain in eating and drinking places was
partly offset by a decline in general merchandise stores.
In manufacturing, employment declined by 14,000 over
the month, reflecting, in part, a strike in auto
manufacturing and some temporary shutdowns for inventory
control in that industry.  From September to March,
factories had added 75,000 jobs.  In April, growth
continued in industrial machinery, fabricated metals, and
aircraft.  Also, overall manufacturing hours rose to match
its post-World-War-II high level, at 42.2  hours, and
overtime edged up to 5.0 hours, its highest level since the
series began in 1956.
In April, construction employment declined for the
second month in a row.  Following a large gain in February,
employment in the industry has decreased by 69,000 over the
past two months, on a seasonally adjusted basis.  Bad
weather across much of the country during the March and
April survey reference periods probably delayed some of the
normal hiring that we otherwise would have expected to see
during those months.
Average hourly earnings edged down by a penny in
April.  This followed increases totaling 11 cents over the
first quarter of the year.  Although the month-to-month
movements in this data series remain quite volatile, the
over-the-year gains for recent months clearly have been
running higher than during the early part of 1996.
The 4.9 percent unemployment rate in April was the
lowest since 1973.  The number of unemployed persons
declined to 6.7 million.  All the major demographic groups
contributed to the decline in the overall jobless rate, and
the unemployment rates for both whites and blacks and for
adult women were down significantly.  Unemployment
decreased among those who had been looking for work for
less than 14 weeks and among those who had lost jobs to
which they did not expect to be recalled.  Although a great
deal of attention undoubtedly will be paid to the drop in
the jobless rate, I would caution, as always, against
reading too much into any one month’s data.
Total employment, as measured by our household survey,
was essentially unchanged in April.  The proportion of the
population with jobs (the employment-population ratio),
however, remained at a record level of 63.8 percent.
In summary, unemployment fell in April, and payroll
employment rose modestly.  The employment-to-population
ratio, manufacturing hours and manufacturing overtime all
remained at historically high levels.

My colleagues and I now would be glad to respond to
your questions.

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