BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2001:
>
> RELEASED TODAY:  Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in July,
> and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.5 percent, the Bureau of
> Labor Statistics reports.  Payroll employment was down by 42,000 over the
> month.  Job losses continued in manufacturing, and employment in most
> other major industries showed little significant change. Also released was
> the Statement of Katharine G. Abraham, Commissioner of Labor Statistics,
> before the Joint Economic Committee, United States Congress, Friday,
> August 3.
>
> The nation's unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent in July as the
> yearlong hemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs slowed and service jobs posted
> a small gain.  The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment
> rate was unchanged, surprising analysts who thought it would climb to 4.7
> percent because of the yearlong economic slowdown.  Businesses cut
> payrolls for the second month in a row, eliminating  42,000 jobs in July
> after a loss of 93,000 in June, a smaller decline that the government
> previously reported (Leigh Strope, Associated Press,
> http://www.nypost.com/apstories/V7188.htm;
> http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-jobless.story?coll=sns%2Dbusine
> ss%2Dheadlines;
> http://www0.mercurycenter.com/breaking/headline2/016647.htm;
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artlcles/A26933-2001Aug3.html;
> http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/55020p-810023c.html).
>
> Jobless claims decreased unexpectedly -- by 23,000 to 346,000 -- reaching
> their lowest level since February, in the week ended July 28, according to
> figures from the Employment and Training Administration (Daily Labor
> Report, page D-1).
>
> Manufacturers, hardest hit by the economic slowdown, saw orders fall in
> June.  But in a sign that the rash of layoffs may be easing, new claims
> for unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level since mid-February
> (Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press,
> http://www.latimes.com/business/la-000063065aug03.story?coll-la%2Dfeatures
> %2Dbusiness; USA Today, page 1B; The Wall Street Journal, page A2; The New
> York Times, page C5).
>
> The risk that the U.S. economy is in a recession rose in June to its
> highest level this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Thursday
> as it released its monthly index of U.S. economic activity.  However, the
> regional Fed bank said the recent bout of weakness differs from the five
> U.S. recessions that have gripped the country since 1967, largely because
> of stable consumer spending and strong housing activity.  The Chicago Fed
> said its monthly National Activity Index fell to -1.02 in June from an
> upwardly revised -0.95 in May.  Previously, the Chicago Fed said the index
> was -1.06 in May.  It was the first time the 3-month average fell below
> -1.00 since 1990-91, when the U.S. economy was in recession
> (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2001-08-02-chicago-fed.htm).
>
>

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