November 2001 — 2001-11-02

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. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the October labor market data we released this morning. Payroll employment dropped sharply over the month in most industries. The unemployment rate climbed to 5.4 percent in October, the highest rate in nearly 5 years. These changes include the impact of the events of September 11. The attacks' impact, however, cannot be separated from other influences on the job market. The decline in total nonfarm payroll employment was 415,000 in October, an unusually large single-month drop. This followed a sizable decline of 213,000 in September. Since its recent peak in March, nonfarm employment has fallen by nearly 900,000. Private sector job losses have been even greater�1.2 million over the same period. In October, nearly every industry division had a substantial decline in employment.