March 2000 — 2000-03-03

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 Standard Time. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to comment on the labor market data released this morning. The unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent in February, changed little over the month and has been below 4.2 percent since last October. A nominal increase of 43,000 in payroll employment in February followed a large weather-related gain of 384,000 in January. The average monthly gain for the 2 months (214,000) is about in line with the monthly average for 1999 (226,000). In the goods-producing sector of the economy, construction employment decreased by 26,000 in February. This decline followed an exceptionally large increase of 116,000 in January (after seasonal adjustment), which reflected unusually mild weather during the survey reference period for that month.