September 2000 — 2000-09-01

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Good morning. I am pleased to be here to offer a few comments on August labor market developments to supplement the release of our employment and unemployment statistics earlier this morning. On the whole, these first major economic indicators for August point to continued moderation in job market activity. While the unemployment rate has remained at or below 4.1 percent since last October, the pace of private-sector job growth has slowed somewhat in recent months. Total payroll employment declined by 105,000 in August, as another large decrease in the number of temporary census workers outweighed private-sector job growth.