The Employment Situation: April 2001 — 2001-05-04

Employment declined in April, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 223,000, following a decline of 53,000 (as revised) in March. In April, large job losses continued in manufacturing and in help supply services, and construction employment declined after seasonal adjustment. Average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents over the month. The number of unemployed persons rose by more than 300,000 in April to 6.4 million and has increased by about 870,000 since October. The unemployment rate increased from 4.3 to 4.5 percent over the month and has risen by 0.6 percentage point since October. In April, the jobless rates were up for adult women (3.8 percent) and whites (4.0 percent). The rates for other major worker groups--adult men (4.0 percent), teenagers (14.2 percent), blacks (8.2 percent), and Hispanics (6.5 percent)--were little changed over the month, but all are up since October.