Jobs drop alone not enough to say recession: BLS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is not strong enough to support job growth, but this year's drop in employment is not enough on its own to prove a recession, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday.

"I hesitate to say ... recession ... because there are so many other things that are important in that," BLS Commissioner Keith Hall told the congressional Joint Economic Committee, citing industrial output and income among those other factors.

But he added, "It certainly means that economic growth is not strong enough to support job growth. (It is) not a strong labor market."

Asked if the government data pointed to recession, Hall said, "The best I can say is that (in) the last two recessions we had eight months of job loss."

Earlier on Friday, BLS -- the statistical arm of the Labor Department -- said U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell for a seventh straight month in July.

"It is important that we had job loss for so many months in a row. It is important. It hasn't been as severe (as past recessions) -- but it is job loss," he said.

"While it is true that job loss is centered in construction and construction related, weakness is fairly broad," Hall said. A diffusion index contained in the report showed only 41.2 percent of the 274 industries gauged increased payrolls in July, the lowest since August 2003.

(Reporting by Melissa Bland; Editing by Andrea Ricci)