Payrolls rise in June

U .S. chemical employment increased substantially in June, rising by 2,800 from the previous month and 11,800 from the comparable month last year to a seasonally adjusted 890,200 employees. Most of the increase came from the hiring of hourly production workers, whose ranks rose 2,300 from May and 11,300 from June 2005 to 525,200. The number of hours worked also increased, rising to 42.6 hours per week in June from 42.3 in May. The hike caused a spurt in the index of aggregate workhours, a product of weekly hours and the number of production workers, to 99.5 (2002 = 100) from 98.4 in May.