Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2009-06-05

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 that we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 345,000 in May. Job losses had averaged 643,000 per month during the prior 6 months. In May, the unemployment rate rose from 8.9 to 9.4 percent. Since the recession began in December 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 6.0 million, and the unemployment rate has increased by 4.5 percentage points. Job losses continued to be widespread in May, but the rate of decline moderated in construction and several service-providing industries. Large job losses continued in the manufacturing sector (-156,000), with employment declines in nearly all component industries. Employment fell sharply in motor vehicles and parts (-30,000), machinery (-26,000), and fabricated metals (-19,000).