For Delivery: 9:30 A.M., E.S.T. — 2005-11-04

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. I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the labor market data we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in October (+56,000), and the jobless rate was 5.0 percent. Payroll employment was flat in September (-8,000, as revised). Before discussing the payroll survey data in detail, I would note that the October estimates were prepared using the same modified procedures that we introduced in September to better gauge employment developments in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. We will continue to evaluate our data collection and estimating procedures and will resume standard survey operations when it is appropriate. You will recall that in our analysis of the September employment data, we concluded that the weakness was largely due to the job loss in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.