February 2001 — 2001-02-02

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 appreciate this opportunity to comment on the highlights of the labor market data we released this morning. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent in January. Payroll employment increased by 268,000, but this follows a gain of only 19,000 (as revised) in December and a total of just 138,000 in the entire fourth quarter of 2000. Moreover, to a great extent, January's job gain reflected unusually large seasonally adjusted increases in just two areas-- construction and the Federal government. Elsewhere, the services industry turned in another subpar performance, and the downward trend in manufacturing employment continued. Construction employment rose by 145,000 in January, after seasonal adjustment. This more than offset weather- related employment declines in November and December. The weather in those months was unusually severe, resulting in larger-than-expected seasonal layoffs.