FOR DELIVERY: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T.
                            FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1999


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

Friday, July 2, 1999



Good morning.  I am pleased to have this opportunity to
discuss the June employment and unemployment estimates that
we released this morning.
	The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in
June, at 4.3 percent.  It has been between 4.2 and 4.4
percent since last November.  Nonfarm employment, as
measured by our establishment survey, increased by 268,000
in June, well above the monthly average for the first 5
months of this year (189,000).  There were sizable over-the-
month job gains in many service-producing industries, but
manufacturing and mining employment continued to decline.
	The services industry added 151,000 jobs in June,
compared with a monthly average of 119,000 for the prior 12
months.  Employment in business services increased by 43,000
over the month, as help supply services and computer and
data processing services added 19,000 and 15,000 jobs,
respectively.  Among services industries that normally hire
large numbers of summer workers, amusement and recreation
services, hotels, and agricultural services all had
seasonally adjusted employment increases.  Strong job growth
continued in engineering and management services.  Notable
job gains also occurred in motion pictures and social
services.  Employment in health services rose slightly,
following little change in May.
	Retail trade added 49,000 jobs in June, about two-
thirds of which were in eating and drinking places.
Employment also increased in furniture and home furnishings
stores (which includes computer stores) and in building
materials and garden supplies.  Job losses occurred for the
second month in a row in food stores, where virtually no net
job growth has been registered over the past 2˝ years.  In
June, employment in general merchandise stores was flat.
	Employment in finance, insurance, and real estate
expanded by 24,000 in June, slightly above the monthly
average of the prior year.  Finance employment rose by
13,000, with noteworthy increases in commercial banks,
security brokerages, and holding and other investment
offices.  Employment growth continued in insurance, and real
estate posted a substantial gain in spite of rising mortgage
interest rates.
	The employment increase of 29,000 in transportation and
public utilities was well above the average monthly gain for
the prior year.  Wholesale trade employment rose slightly
over the month, with all of the growth in durable goods
distribution.
In the goods-producing sector, construction employment
rose by 26,000 (seasonally adjusted), following a large
decline in May.  Although employment growth in the industry
has been sporadic recently, the underlying growth trend
appears to have been fairly strong.  Construction employment
has risen by 222,000 since last October.
	Manufacturing employment continued to decline; the
industry lost 35,000 jobs in June and has lost nearly a half
million since its most recent peak in March 1998.  Thus far
in 1999, the rate of monthly job loss has been quite similar
to that observed during the last half of 1998.  Factory
losses were widespread in June.  In durable goods, both
electrical equipment and aircraft manufacturing experienced
notable job losses.  Within nondurable goods, employment in
food and kindred products, textiles, and apparel continued
to decline.  Employment in the apparel industry has fallen
by one-third since its most recent peak in November 1991.
Despite the employment losses in manufacturing, factory
overtime, at 4.7 hours in June, was at the highest level in
over a year, and the overall factory workweek remains at a
relatively high level.
	Employment in mining continued to decline, but the
losses moderated in June.  For the year thus far, job losses
in the industry have totaled 42,000.
	Average hourly earnings of private production or
nonsupervisory workers grew by 5 cents in June, to $13.23.
Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.7
percent.
The major labor market indicators from our survey of
households showed little movement over the month.  The
jobless rate was 4.3 percent in June, not much different
from May’s 4.2 percent.  The rate has been below 4.5 percent
since November 1998 and below 5.0 percent for 2 years now.
In June, unemployment rates were little changed for
most demographic groups.  The jobless rate for blacks
continued to drift downward and, at 7.3 percent in June, was
significantly lower than a year earlier.  The jobless rate
for Hispanics has remained below 7.0 percent throughout the
year to date.  Even so, both blacks and Hispanics continue
to experience higher unemployment than whites, for whom the
jobless rate was 3.8 percent in June.
The civilian labor force rose over the month to 139.4
million, but civilian employment and the proportion of the
population that was employed, 64.3 percent, were little
changed.
The number of persons who held more than one job in
June totaled 7.5 million (not seasonally adjusted).  These
multiple jobholders made up 5.6 percent of the total
employed, down slightly from 5.8 percent a year earlier.
	Among persons not in the labor force in June, about 1.2
million individuals (not seasonally adjusted) indicated they
wanted and were available for work and had looked for
employment sometime in the past year, but were not currently
looking for a job.  Of these “marginally attached” persons,
the number of discouraged workers--those who were not
currently looking for work specifically because they
believed no jobs were available to them--was 220,000 (not
seasonally adjusted), down about 90,000 over the year.
	In summary, payroll employment growth was relatively
strong in June, and the civilian unemployment rate was
essentially unchanged.
My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your
questions.

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