February 1999 — 1999-02-05

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 Standard Time. Good morning. I am pleased to have this opportunity to comment on the employment and unemployment data that we released this morning. The unemployment rate was unchanged in January, at 4.3 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment, as measured by our establishment survey, increased by 245,000 over the month, about in line with the average over the prior 12 months. Most of the industry divisions contributed to the January rise. January job gains were led by the services industry, which had about-average growth, adding 114,000 jobs. Engineering and management services and computer services continued their strong growth trends. These industries expanded by 27,000 and 17,000 jobs, respectively. Employment in amusement and recreation increased by 13,000, reversing a similar decline in December.