The Employment Situation: December 2002 — 2003-01-10

Employment declined in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 101,000, following a decline of 88,000 (as revised) in November. In December, job losses continued in manu- facturing; employment also fell in retail trade and transportation. The unemployment rate remained at 6.0 percent in December, and the number of unemployed persons was essentially flat, at 8.6 million. Both measures had increased in November. The unemployment rate for adult women rose in December to 5.3 percent. The jobless rates for other major worker groups--adult men (5.6 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (5.1 percent), blacks (11.5 percent), and Hispanics (7.9 percent)--were little changed over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.) The number of persons unemployed 15 weeks or more rose to 3.2 million in December, an increase of 815,000 over the year.