Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2009-05-08

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 we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 539,000 in April, and the unemployment rate rose from 8.5 to 8.9 percent. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, job losses have totaled 5.7 million, and the unemployment rate has increased by 4 percentage points. In April, widespread job losses continued throughout the private sector. Private employment fell by 611,000, compared with average monthly declines of 700,000 in the prior 4 months. Over the month, federal government employment rose by 66,000, mainly due to hiring of temporary workers in preparation for Census 2010. Manufacturing employment fell by 149,000 over the month, and job losses continued to be widespread.