April 1997 — 1997-04-04

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 Standard Time. Good morning. I am pleased to have this opportunity to comment on the labor market data released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 175,000 in March. The unemployment rate, at 5.2 percent, was about unchanged over the month; it has ranged from 5.2 to 5.4 percent since mid-1996. Nearly two-thirds of March job growth occurred in services, where employment rose by 111,000. Business services added 58,000 jobs, in part reflecting a sizable gain in help supply services (25,000). The average monthly gain in help supply thus far this year has been 16,000; over the past 12 months, employment in the industry has grown by 7 percent, more than three times the rate of growth for the rest of the nonfarm economy as a whole.