Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2002-08-02

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. Labor market conditions were little changed in July. The unemployment rate held at 5.9 percent and nonfarm payroll employment was flat at 130.8 million. Payroll employment has been essentially unchanged over the past 5 months and the unemployment rate has remained within a narrow 5.8- to 6.0-percent range since April. The number of unemployed, at 8.3 million, was close to its May and June levels. Long-term unemployment of 15 weeks or longer edged down in July. That measure had risen continuously over the prior 13 months. In July, approximately 4.2 million persons were involuntary part-time workers (that is, they would have preferred full-time work), an increase from June. The number of involuntary part-timers jumped significantly following the terrorist attacks last September, but since then has not shown any clear trend.