April 1999 — 1999-04-02

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 Standard Time. Good morning. I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss the March employment and unemployment estimates that the Bureau of Labor Statistics released this morning. The unemployment rate, as measured by our household survey, fell to 4.2 percent in March. It was 4.4 percent in February and had been in the 4.3-to-4.5 percent range since last April. Nonfarm employment, as measured by our establishment survey, was little changed in March, after rising by 297,000 in February. Employment declined in construction, manufacturing, and mining during March, while most other major industry groups experienced moderate increases. Employment in the construction industry fell 47,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in March, after increasing by an average of 54,000 jobs per month over the prior 5 months.