The Employment Situation: July 2001 — 2001-08-03

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. 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.