April 2001 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Employment declined in April, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 223,000, following a decline of 53,000 (as revised) in March. In April, large job losses continued in manufacturing and in help supply services, and construction employment declined after seasonal adjustment. Average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons rose by more than 300,000 in April to 6.4 million and has increased by about 870,000 since October. The unemployment rate increased from 4.3 to 4.5 percent over the month and has risen by 0.6 percentage point since October. In April, the jobless rates were up for adult women (3.8 percent) and whites (4.0 percent). The rates for other major worker groups--adult men (4.0 percent), teenagers (14.2 percent), blacks (8.2 percent), and Hispanics (6.5 percent)--were little changed over the month, but all are up since October. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

The unemployment rate for college graduates age 25 and over rose for the second consecutive month in April, but at 2.3 percent was still well below the rates for groups with less education. (See table A-3.)

The number of unemployed persons who lost their jobs or completed temporary jobs continued to increase in April, and at 3.2 million was up by about three-quarters of a million from its October level. The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks also rose over the month, to nearly 3.0 million. Since October, the number of these newly unemployed has increased by about 450,000. (See tables A-6 and A-7.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Both total employment, at 135.4 million, and the employment-population ratio, at 64.0 percent, declined in April. The civilian labor force was essentially unchanged at 141.8 million, as was the labor force participation rate at 67.1 percent. (See table A-1.)

In April, there were 7.3 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) holding more than one job. Multiple jobholders represented 5.4 percent of the employed, down from 5.7 percent a year ago. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in April. These were people who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior

12 months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. In April, the number of discouraged workers was 346,000. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment declined for the second straight month, falling by 223,000 in April. Manufacturing and help supply services both posted sharp job losses, and construction employment fell after seasonal adjustment. There was little or no job growth in most other industries over the month. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing employment fell by 104,000 in April. Declines since last June have totaled 554,000, and two-thirds of those job losses have occurred in the past 4 months. Manufacturing employment declines continued to be widespread in April. Large losses continued in electrical equipment (31,000), with electronic components accounting for two-thirds of the decline. Large declines also occurred in industrial machinery (16,000) and fabricated metals (13,000). In nondurable goods manufacturing, job losses continued in apparel, textiles, printing and publishing, and rubber and miscellaneous plastics.

In April, seasonal hiring was weaker than normal in construction, and, as a result, employment decreased by 64,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This decline may reflect, in part, the heavy rains over much of the country's interior. Since last October, construction has added an average of 16,000 jobs a month, compared with a monthly average of 23,000 for the period of October 1999 to October 2000.

In mining, employment in oil and gas extraction continued to increase in April and has risen by 17,000 thus far this year.

In the service-producing sector, the services industry lost 121,000 jobs in April, despite job gains in health services (14,000), social services (14,000), and computer services (7,000). Help supply services experienced another sharp job decline (108,000). This industry, which provides just-in-time workers to other businesses, has lost 370,000 jobs since September. Seasonal hiring in amusement and recreation services and hotels was well below normal this month, resulting in employment declines of 30,000 and 13,000, respectively.

In retail trade, eating and drinking places added 41,000 jobs in April, reversing a loss in March. Food stores also added jobs in April. Partly offsetting these increases were job losses in general merchandise, apparel, building materials and garden supplies, and furniture stores. Employment in furniture stores, which had trended up in 2000, has shown no increase this year.

Wholesale trade experienced job losses for the fifth straight month in April; employment in the industry has declined by 27,000 over this period. Finance, insurance, and real estate added 8,000 jobs in April. The gains were primarily in depository institutions and insurance carriers. The number of jobs in mortgage banks was little changed, and employment in security brokerages declined.

Local government employment increased by 32,000 in April; the gain was split evenly between education and noneducation agencies.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in April at 34.3 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the manufacturing workweek and manufacturing overtime also were unchanged at 40.7 and 3.8 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.3 percent over the month to 151.3 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index fell by 0.8 percent to 100.3 in April. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in April to $14.22, seasonally adjusted. April's increase was equal to the monthly average for the first 3 months of this year. Over the month, average weekly earnings increased by 0.4 percent to $487.75. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 4.3 percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.4 percent. (See table B-3.)