June 2000 — 2000-06-02

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. Good morning. I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the employment and unemployment estimates that we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 231,000 in May, boosted by the hiring of 357,000 temporary workers for Census 2000. Private-sector employment declined by 116,000 over the month, following strong gains in March and April. The average monthly gain of 182,000 in private-sector employment thus far this year is slightly below the average of 202,000 for all of 1999. The unemployment rate in May returned to its March level of 4.1 percent, after having dipped to 3.9 percent in April. As measured by our establishment survey, job losses occurred throughout much of the private sector in May. Construction employment declined by 29,000 over the month (after seasonal adjustment).