The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 121,000 in June, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment continued to trend upward in several service-providing industries and in mining. Average hourly earnings rose by 8 cents in June.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons (7.0 million) was essentially unchanged in June, and the unemployment rate held at 4.6%. The unemployment rate for adult men declined to 4.0%, while the unemployment rate for teenagers edged up to 15.4%. Jobless rates for the other major worker groups--adult women (4.1%), whites (4.1%), blacks (9.0%), and Hispanics (5.3%)-showed little or no change over the month.

The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted. The number of long-term unemployed persons--those unemployed 27 weeks or longer--fell to 1.1 million in June. This group accounted for 16.2% of total unemployment, down from 18.8% in May.

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force (151.3 million) and total employment (144.4 million) continued to trend up in June. The labor force participation rate was essentially unchanged over the month at 66.2% and was about the same as a year earlier. The employment-population ratio, at 63.1%, also was essentially unchanged over the month, but was 0.4 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

The number of persons who held more than one job decreased by 320,000 in June to 7.4 million, after edging up in May. This group accounted for 5.1% of total employment in June, down from 5.4% a year earlier.

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 June, the same as a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in 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 481,000 discouraged workers in June, also about the same as a year earlier.

Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.


Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 121,000 in June to 135.2 million. This increase followed job gains of 112,000 in April and 92,000 in May, as revised. The average monthly gain of 108,000 over this 3-month period compares with an average monthly gain of 169,000 over the 12-month period ending in March. Over the month, job growth continued in health care, professional and business services, and mining; employment in manufacturing edged up.

Employment in professional and business services also continued to grow in June (+25,000). Job gains in the industry have averaged 27,000 per month so far in 2006, compared with 41,000 per month in 2005. In June, employment edged up in accounting and bookkeeping services and in computer systems design. Temporary help services employment edged down slightly over the month and has decreased by 36,000 since December.

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, local government employment was up 24,000 in June with most of the increase in functions other than education. Employment continued to trend up over the month in food services and in wholesale trade. Financial activities had little job growth for the second month in a row.

Retail trade employment was essentially unchanged in June following large declines in April and May. Retail employment is down by 86,000 since March. General merchandise stores lost 14,000 jobs over the month; this industry has accounted for most of the recent decline in retail trade employment.

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing employment edged up in June (+15,000), following a small decline in May. Over the month, employment was up in transportation equipment, machinery, and electrical equipment and appliances.

Mining employment grew by 6,000 in June. The industry has added 114,000 jobs since its most recent low in April 2003, largely reflecting gains in suport activities for oil and gas. In June, construction employment was essentially unchanged for the fourth consecutive month.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.9 hours in June, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also rose by 0.1 hour to 41.3 hours, while factory overtime was unchanged at 4.6 hours.

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.4% in June to 105.0 (2002=100). The manufacturing index also rose by 0.4% to 96.8.

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents in June to $16.70, seasonally adjusted. This followed increases of 10 cents in April and 1 cent in May. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.8 % in June to $566.13. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.9% and average weekly earnings increased by 4.5%.


Available at:

http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm