January 2000 — 2000-01-07

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 Standard Time. Good morning. I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss the December employment and unemployment estimates that we released this morning. The unemployment rate was unchanged in December at 4.1 percent. The fourth quarter average, also 4.1 percent, was down from 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 1998. Nonfarm payroll employment, as measured by our establishment survey, expanded by 315,000 to 129.9 million in December, with 251,000 of these jobs added in the private sector. Over the past year, payroll employment rose by 2.7 million, or 2.1 percent. That compared to 2.9 million, or 2.4 percent, in 1998. Manufacturing employment was virtually unchanged in December.