July 2001 — 2001-07-06

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. Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 114,000 in June, the second substantial employment decline in 3 months. Job losses continued in manufacturing and several related industries. The unemployment rate was little changed at 4.5 percent, five-tenths of a percentage point higher than the average for 2000. In June, job losses in manufacturing continued to be steep (totaling 113,000) and widespread. Factory employment has fallen by 347,000 over the past 3 months and by 785,000 since last July. The largest employment declines over the month continued to be in electrical equipment (-31,000) and industrial machinery (-22,000). Other sizable declines occurred in furniture, primary metals, fabricated metals, textiles, apparel, paper, printing and publishing, and rubber and miscellaneous plastics.