07.09.07
Economic Activity and Labor
The Employment Situation
Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 132,000 jobs in June, edging above an average forecast of 128,000. April and May payrolls were revised upward a cumulative 75,000 (to 122,000 and 190,000, respectively). The average monthly gain in the first half of 2007 was 145,000, which was a step down from the first two quarters of 2006 (+188,000).
The service sector showed continued firmness, gaining 135,000 jobs. Education and health services rose sharply, posting its highest increase (+59,000) since August 2006. Government (+40,000) and leisure and hospitality (+39,000) showed strength, but there were pockets of weakness in retail trade (-24,000) and professional business services (-9,000). In 2006 retail trade averaged a monthly loss of 3,000 jobs per month, and professional business services averaged a monthly gain of 42,000.
The goods-producing sector lost only 3,000 jobs, which was better than its average monthly loss of 12,000 jobs so far in 2007. The construction industry edged up to a modest increase of 12,000 and nearly counteracted the continued losses in manufacturing (-18,000). Manufacturing job losses were concentrated in primary metals, computer equipment, wood products, and textile mills.
Labor Market Conditions
| Average monthly change (thousands of employees, NAICS) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | Jan-May 2007 | June 2007 | ||||
| Payroll employment | 172 |
212 |
189 |
148 |
132 |
|||
| Goods-producing | 28 |
32 |
9 |
–14 |
–3 |
|||
| Construction | 26 |
35 |
11 |
–3 |
12 |
|||
| Manufacturing | 0 |
–7 |
–7 |
–13 |
–18 |
|||
| Durable goods | 8 |
2 |
0 |
–12 |
–13 |
|||
| Nondurable goods | –9 |
–9 |
–6 |
–1 |
–5 |
|||
| Service-providing | 144 |
180 |
179 |
162 |
135 |
|||
| Retail trade | 16 |
19 |
–3 |
13 |
–24 |
|||
| Financial activitiesa | 8 |
14 |
16 |
5 |
1 |
|||
| PBSb | 38 |
57 |
42 |
18 |
–9 |
|||
| Temporary help services | 11 |
18 |
–1 |
–8 |
–8 |
|||
| Education and health services | 33 |
36 |
41 |
46 |
59 |
|||
| Leisure and Hospitality | 25 |
23 |
38 |
31 |
39 |
|||
| Government | 14 |
14 |
20 |
28 |
40 |
|||
| Average for period (percent) | ||||||||
| Civilian unemployment rate | 5.5 |
5.1 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
|||
a.Financial activities include the finance, insurance, and real estate sector and the rental and leasing sector.
b.
PBS is professional business services (professional, scientific, and technical services, management of companies and enterprises, administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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