Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2003-05-02

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. The decline in the nation�s nonfarm payroll employment continued in April, although at a more moderate pace, and the unemployment rate rose to 6.0 percent. The modest decrease of 48,000 in payroll employment (-80,000 in the private sector) follows steep declines in February and March that totaled nearly half a million jobs. Manufacturing had its largest job loss in 15 months. Travel-related industries, such as air transportation, hotels and lodging places, and amusement and recreation services, also were weak in April. As measured by our survey of employers, factory payrolls lost 95,000 jobs in April, more than twice the average loss of the prior 12 months. Over-the-month declines were widespread, with notable losses in motor vehicles, fabricated metals, and electronic equipment.