March 1998 — 1998-03-06

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 appreciate this opportunity to comment on the employment and unemployment data that we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 310,000 in February, continuing its recent pattern of strong growth. Over the year, the economy has added nearly 3.4 million jobs. The unemployment rate, at 4.6 percent in February, was essentially unchanged from the previous month and was 0.7 percentage point lower than a year earlier. The services industry accounted for nearly half of the February employment gain. Within services, employment in help supply services rose by 52,000 over the month. Employment levels in this industry often fluctuate considerably from one month to the next, but since August the help supply services industry has added 170,000 jobs.