Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2008-11-07

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 Standard Time. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 240,000 in October, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.1 to 6.5 percent. Job losses over the last 3 months totaled 651,000, after accounting for downward revisions to employment estimates for August and September. So far this year, payroll employment has decreased by 1.2 million. In October, manufacturing employment continued to fall (-90,000), with declines occurring throughout the sector. A large drop in transportation equipment employment (-40,000) reflected continued weakness in motor vehicles and parts as well as a strike involving 27,000 workers in the aerospace industry. Other sizable job losses occurred in fabricated metal products (-11,000), furniture (-10,000), wood products (-7,000), and plastics and rubber products (-6,000). Manufacturing hours and overtime were unchanged at 40.6 and 3.6 hours, respectively.