The Employment Situation: July 1998 — 1998-08-07

Payroll employment rose slightly, and unemployment was unchanged in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 66,000 to 125.8 million, as growth was curtailed by strikes and plant shutdowns in automobile-related manufacturing. The jobless rate remained at 4.5 percent. The number of unemployed persons, 6.2 million in July, was little changed over the month. The unemployment rate remained at 4.5 percent; it has been below 5.0 percent since July 1997. The jobless rate for whites edged down by 0.2 percentage point to 3.8 percent, about the same as in May. The jobless rate for blacks increased over the month to 9.7 percent. Unemployment rates for the other major demographic groups--adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (4.0 percent), teenagers (13.8 percent), and Hispanics (7.2 percent)--were essentially unchanged in July.