May 1996 — 1996-05-03

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 time. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the labor market data released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment was virtually unchanged (up 2,000) in April, after increasing by an average of 221,000 per month over the first three months of the year. The unemployment rate edged down to 5.4 percent, but was still in the narrow range (5.4 to 5.8) where it has held since October 1994. In April, small job gains in the service-producing sector were accompanied by losses in goods-producing industries. Employment in the services industry itself rose by only 20,000 over the month; during the prior 3 months, it had increased an average of 125,000 per month. Computer and data processing services maintained its recent pace of job growth.