September 2001 — 2001-09-07

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. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to comment on the August labor market data we released this morning. The labor market continued to weaken in August. The jobless total swelled by more than half a million over the month, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent, its highest level in nearly 4 years. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 113,000 in August, bringing net job losses since March to 323,000. Manufacturers continued to slash jobs in August, and there was also a large employment decline in transportation and public utilities. Most other major industries showed little or no change in employment over the month. Manufacturing employment fell by 141,000 in August. Since July 2000, the industry has lost slightly more than 1 million jobs.