Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2009-03-06

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. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and unemployment data we released this morning. The sharp and widespread contraction in the labor market continued in February. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 651,000, following declines of 681,000 in December and 655,000 in January. Since the recession began in December 2007, job losses have totaled 4.4 million, well more than half of which occurred in the past 4 months. In February, the unemployment rate climbed from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, the highest rate in over 25 years. Manufacturing employment declined by 168,000 in February and has dropped by 1.3 million since the start of the recession. Employment has fallen in nearly all manufacturing industries during this period.