Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2009-08-07

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. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and unemployment data we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 247,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.4 percent. Payroll job losses over the past 3 months have now averaged 331,000, compared with an average of 645,000 over the prior 6 months. Employment has fallen by 6.7 million since the start of the recession in December 2007. In July, employment declines continued in many of the major industry sectors. Construction employment fell by 76,000 over the month, with losses throughout the component industries. Over the past 3 months, job losses have averaged 73,000 compared with 117,000 over the prior 6 months. Employment in construction has fallen by 1.4 million since December 2007.