The Employment Situation: August 2000 — 2000-09-01

Total nonfarm employment fell by 105,000 in August, while the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. A further decline in the number of temporary census workers (down 158,000 in August) and a strike in the communications industry contributed to the over-the-month employment drop, but manufacturing employment also declined. Private-sector employment edged up by 17,000, although the gain would have been 102,000 had it not been for strike effects. Job gains were strong in the services industry. The unemployment rate (4.1 percent) remained in the narrow range of 3.9 to 4.1 percent that has held since October 1999. The rates for most major worker groups--adult men (3.2 percent), adult women (3.8 percent), whites (3.6 percent), blacks (8.0 percent), and Hispanics (5.7 percent)--showed little or no change in August. The teenage unemployment rate has edged up over the past 2 months to 14.4 percent.