July 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.

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in July, and the unemploy- ment rate was unchanged at 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment was down by 42,000 over the month. Job losses continued in manufacturing, and employment in most other major industries showed little significant change.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 6.4 million in July, and the unemployment rate held at 4.5 percent. The jobless rate has been either 4.4 or 4.5 percent since April; its most recent low was 3.9 percent in October 2000. The rates for all the major worker groups--adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (3.9 percent), teenagers (14.8 percent), whites (4.0 percent), blacks (7.9 percent), and Hispanics (6.0 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force grew by 420,000 in July to 141.8 million, and the labor force participation rate--the proportion of the population 16 years of age and older who are either working or looking for work--edged up to 66.9 percent. Total employment increased by 447,000 over the month to 135.4 million, seasonally adjusted. Despite this rise, total employment in July was still 620,000 below its January 2001 level. The employment- population ratio rose slightly in July to 63.9 percent. (See table A-1.)

About 7.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in July. These multiple jobholders represented 5.5 percent of the employed, the same as a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.2 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in July, about the same as a year earlier. 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 July, the number of discouraged workers was 308,000. 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 was down by 42,000 in July to a level of 132.4 million, seasonally adjusted. This was the third decline in the past

4 months, resulting in a net loss of about 260,000 jobs over the period. Manufacturing employment continued to fall, but July's decline was the smallest so far this year. The other major industry groups posted little or no change in employment over the month. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing shed 49,000 jobs in July, bringing total losses in the industry since July 2000 to 837,000. The decline this July was less than half the size of the losses in each of the prior 3 months. In July, employment in electrical equipment and in industrial machinery continued to decline, by 24,000 and 21,000, respectively. So far this year, these two industries together have lost a total of 247,000 jobs, accounting for about 40 percent of the total job loss in manufacturing. Employment in primary metals fell in July, the ninth consecutive monthly decrease. In automobile manufacturing, employment has fallen by 45,000 so far this year despite an increase of 11,000 over the month. Among nondurable manufacturing industries, printing and publishing experienced another large employment decline in July and has lost 65,000 jobs in the past 12 months.

Employment in construction was little changed in July, following a decline in June. Monthly job growth in the industry has averaged 11,000 thus far in 2001, compared with 18,000 per month in 2000. In July, job gains in heavy construction were offset by losses in special trade contracting. Job growth continued in mining. Oil and gas extraction has added 21,000 jobs so far this year, while metal mining has lost 7,000.

In the service-producing sector, employment in the services industry was little changed overall in July. The help supply industry, which provides temporary workers to businesses on a contractual basis, lost 42,000 jobs in July. This was the tenth consecutive monthly employment decline for this industry, and its losses since last September now total 429,000 jobs. Large employment gains occurred in health services (25,000) and in engineering and management services (13,000).

Employment in retail trade was little changed in July. Job gains in eating and drinking places (40,000) and automobile dealers (5,000) were partially offset by losses in food stores, apparel stores, and building materials and garden supply stores. In July, employment in wholesale trade was unchanged following three months with large declines. Job losses in the distribution of durable goods were exactly offset by gains in the nondurable-goods component of the industry.

Employment in transportation and public utilities was little changed in July, following a decline of 16,000 in June. After gaining an average of 14,000 jobs a month in 2000, employment in the industry has changed little on balance since December. Air transportation and transportation services continued their declining employment trends with small job losses in July.

Finance, insurance, and real estate employment edged down in July, following a larger decline in June. Together, the June and July job losses in this industry totaled 18,000. Security and commodity brokerages continued to shed jobs and accounted for most of the 2-month decline.

Employment in government edged up in July, with most of the gains in state and local government education. This was the second consecutive month of large seasonally adjusted job gains for state education employment, as light hiring for the school year last autumn resulted in smaller than usual layoffs during the summer months.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in July at 34.2 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek ticked up by 0.1 hour to 40.8 hours. Manufacturing overtime was flat at 3.9 hours. Over the past 12 months, the factory workweek has fallen by 1.0 hour and factory overtime by 0.8 hour. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 percent in July to 151.0 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index was unchanged at 98.1. The factory index had declined in each of the previous 5 months, and has fallen by 8.3 percent over the past 12 months. The current level is the lowest since March 1983. (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 4 cents in July to $14.35, seasonally adjusted. Over the month, average weekly earnings rose by 0.3 percent to $490.77. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 4.4 percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.8 percent. (See table B-3.)