April 2002 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.

The unemployment rate rose to 6.0 percent in April, and payroll employment was little changed (+43,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment rose in the services industry but fell in construction. Job losses in manufacturing continued to moderate.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

In April, the number of unemployed persons rose by 483,000 to 8.6 million, after seasonal adjustment. The unemployment rate increased by 0.3 percentage point to 6.0 percent. Since its recent low of 3.9 percent in October 2000, the jobless rate has increased by 2.1 percentage points, and the number of unemployed persons has risen by 3.1 million.

The unemployment rate for adult women rose by 0.4 percentage point over the month, and the rate for adult men edged up. Both rates were 5.4 percent in April. The jobless rate for whites increased by 0.3 percentage point to 5.3 percent. The jobless rates of the other major worker groups--teenagers (16.8 percent), blacks (11.2 percent), and Hispanics (7.9 percent)--showed little change in April. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks and over rose by 161,000 in April. This measure has more than doubled since it began trending upward a year and a half ago. (See table A-6.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Over the month, the civilian labor force rose by 565,000 to 142.6 million, after seasonal adjustment. The labor force participation rate also increased over the month to 66.8 percent. With the exception of a few large monthly fluctuations, the participation rate has held close to its current level since last spring. Both the level of employment (134.0 million) and the employment-population ratio (62.8 percent) were little changed in April. (See table A-1.)

About 7.3 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in April. These multiple jobholders represented 5.4 percent of the total employed--the same proportion as a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in April, up from 1.1 million a year earlier. These individuals reported that they wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they had not actively searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers was 317,000 in April, little changed from a year earlier. Dis- couraged 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)

Total nonfarm payroll employment, at 131.2 million, was little changed in April (+43,000). This is the third consecutive month in which payroll employment has remained essentially flat. In contrast, employment declined by an average of 144,000 a month from March 2001 to January 2002. Construc- tion posted a large job loss in April, while employment declines in manufac- turing continued to moderate. Offsetting these declines were gains in a number of industries, notably services, transportation, and eating and drink- ing places. (See table B-1.)

Employment in construction fell by 79,000, after seasonal adjustment. Much of April's job loss was in special trades (-61,000), though general building contractors and heavy construction lost 12,000 and 6,000 jobs, respectively. Following the turn of the business cycle in March 2001, construction employment was relatively flat through the end of the year. So far in 2002, however, the industry has lost 155,000 jobs.

While manufacturing employment continued to decline in April (down by 19,000), the pace of job loss has slowed considerably in recent months. Over the 3-month period from February to April, job losses averaged 37,000 a month, compared with average monthly losses of 119,000 from March 2001 to January 2002. Over the month, employment held steady in electronic equipment and rose slightly in industrial machinery, following more than a year of heavy job losses in both industries. Fabricated metals and furniture and fixtures also showed improvement with over-the-month job gains of 5,000 and 3,000, respectively. Employment continued to decline in transportation equipment, with over-the-month losses in both aircraft and motor vehicle manufacturing.

Employment in mining increased by 7,000 in April, following 5 consecutive months of job losses totaling 15,000. Oil and gas extraction, which had accounted for much of the prior 5-month loss, added 5,000 jobs in April.

Within the service-producing sector, employment in the services industry rose by 87,000. This industry has now recouped job losses that totaled 245,000 in October and November of 2001. Over the month, help supply ser- vices added 66,000 jobs, making April the third consecutive month of job gains, after more than a year of sustained job losses. Engineering and management services added 14,000 jobs in April, four times the average employment gain of the prior 12 months. Employment also rose in health services (15,000), but the gain was smaller than in recent months. Job losses in agricultural services (-11,000) and in amusements and recreation (-24,000) partly offset the gains elsewhere in services.

Retail trade employment was about unchanged in April. Within retail trade, job gains in eating and drinking places (31,000) were partly offset by losses in food stores (-10,000) and apparel (-8,000).

Elsewhere in the service-producing sector, employment in insurance rose by 9,000 over the month, after sustaining 6 months of job losses. The real estate industry added 6,000 jobs in April; employment in the industry had been relatively flat during the prior 12 months. Employment in transporta- tion rose (18,000) for the first time in nearly a year, with job gains wide- spread throughout the industry. Job losses continued in communications (-13,000); recent declines have been concentrated in telephone communications. Wholesale trade employment was about unchanged over the month, as was employ- ment in government.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour in April to 34.1 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek was unchanged at 41.0 hours and factory overtime was up by 0.1 hour to 4.3 hours. Since November, when both measures reached their most recent lows, the factory workweek has risen by 0.7 hour and manufacturing overtime has increased by 0.6 hour. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was down by 0.2 percent in April to 148.5 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index also declined by 0.2 percent to 93.0 in April, following an increase of 0.6 percent in March. (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 2 cents in April to $14.69, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings declined by 0.2 percent to $500.93. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.4 percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.1 percent. (See table B-3.)