Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2004-01-09

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 was unchanged (+1,000) in December following gains totaling 277,000 in the 4 previous months. The unemployment rate, at 5.7 percent in December, continued to trend down from its recent peak of 6.3 percent in June. Over the month, job losses in retail trade and manu- facturing were offset by small gains in several service industries and construction. The number of jobs in retail trade fell by 38,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, as hiring for the holidays was less than usual in general merchandise stores and some other retail industries. Employment in manufacturing continued to decline in December.