Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2009-07-02

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 Daylight Time. Nonfarm payroll employment continued to fall in June (-467,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.5 percent. Since the recession began in December 2007, payroll employment has dropped by 6.5 million, and the unemployment rate has increased by 4.6 percentage points. Payroll employment declines continued to be widespread among the major industries. In June, there were large decreases in manufacturing, construction, and professional and business services. Together, these three sectors have accounted for nearly three-quarters of the jobs lost since the recession began. Manufacturing employment fell by 136,000 in June, bringing job loss in this industry to 1.9 million since the start of the recession.