May 1998 — 1998-05-08

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. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I would like to thank you for this opportunity to comment on the labor market data released this morning. Employment rose and unemployment fell sharply in April. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 262,000, following essentially no change in March. The April increase is in line with the average monthly gain for the prior 12 months. The jobless rate dropped four-tenths of a percentage point to 4.3 percent. The unemployment rate had held fairly steady from November of last year through March. Nearly all of the net employment growth in April occurred in the service-producing sector of the economy, with the services industry alone adding 139,000 jobs. Business services payrolls grew by 60,000, mostly in help supply services and in computer and data processing.