For Delivery: 9:30 A.M., E.D.T. — 2004-06-04

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. I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor market data that we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 248,000 in May, following even larger job gains in both April and March (346,000 and 353,000, respectively). Since August 2003, payroll employment has risen by 1.4 million. In May, job growth was widespread for the third consecutive month. Employment continued to expand in manufacturing, construc- tion, and several service-providing industries. The unemployment rate held at 5.6 percent in May; it has shown essentially no movement since last December. Among the goods-producing industries, employment in manufacturing rose by 32,000 in May and has increased by 91,000 since January.