December 1998 — 1998-12-04

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. Good morning. I am pleased to have this opportunity to comment on the employment and unemployment data that were released this morning. Employment rose in November and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 267,000, reflecting above-average gains in services, construction, and retail trade. Manufacturing, however, experienced another large employment decline. The number of factory jobs fell by 47,000 in November following a decline of 61,000 in October. Since its peak in March, manufacturing employment has fallen by 245,000. Factory job losses in November were widespread. The largest were in industrial machinery (-15,000), which had its fifth consecutive job loss, and apparel and other textiles (-10,000), which has lost jobs almost every month since November 1994. Electronic equipment had its eighth consecutive job loss (-8,000).