[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]



                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

                                 ____________________





        No. 97-1095



                                  GILBERTO MELENDEZ,



                                Plaintiff, Appellant,



                                          v.



                           COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,



                                 Defendant, Appellee.



                                 ____________________





                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT



                           FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO



                  [Hon. Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, U.S. District Judge]
                                               ___________________



                                 ____________________



                                        Before



                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
                                           ___________

                           Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
                                            ______________



                                 ____________________



            Melba  N. Rivera-Camacho and Melba N. Rivera-Camacho  & Assocs. on
            ________________________     __________________________________

        brief for appellant.

            Guillermo  Gil, United  States Attorney,  Edna  Rosario, Assistant
            ______________                            _____________

        United  States  Attorney,  and  Donna  McCarthy,   Assistant  Regional
                                        _______________

        Counsel, Social Security Administration, on brief for appellee.





                                 ____________________



                                  September 3, 1997

                                 ____________________



































                      Per Curiam.   Claimant-appellant  Gilberto Melendez
                      __________



            appeals from  a judgment  of the  district court  affirming a



            decision of the Commissioner of Social Security that Melendez



            was  not entitled to  disability benefits.   Having carefully



            reviewed  the record  and  the  parties'  briefs,  we  affirm



            essentially  for the reasons stated  by the district court in



            its opinion dated  November 13, 1996.  We  are persuaded that



            the  hypothetical question  posed  to  the Vocational  Expert



            ("VE")  was  adequate under  the particular  circumstances of



            this case.   The VE's testimony indicates that  he considered



            all eight areas in which appellant was found to have moderate



            mental limitations, though  he did not  recite each of  these



            areas.   Finally, although the  VE did mention  some evidence



            after  the  insured   period,  the  VE  relied   on  residual



            functional capacity  assessments for  the critical  period in



            reaching  his  conclusion that  appellant could  perform past



            jobs.    



                      We  add  simply   that,  contrary  to   appellant's



            suggestion,  the  Administrative Law  Judge  ("ALJ") was  not



            required  to  recite  every piece  of  evidence  that favored



            appellant.   See Stein  v. Sullivan, 966  F.2d 317,  319 (7th
                         ___ _____     ________



            Cir. 1992) (noting that the level of articulation required is



            not precise).  The ALJ's decision reveals that  he considered



            the evidence as  a whole,  and it indicates  the path of  his



            reasoning.  No more was required.







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                      Affirmed.
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