THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: OCTOBER 2001
Employment fell sharply in October, and the unemployment rate jumped to
5.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor
reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 415,000 over the
month, by far the largest of three consecutive monthly declines. The job
losses in October were spread across most industry groups, with especially
large declines in manufacturing and services.
The labor market data from the household and payroll surveys for the
month of October are the first data from these surveys to reflect broadly
the impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11. The labor market had
been weakening before the attacks, and those events clearly exacerbated
this weakness. It is not possible, however, to quantify the job-market
effects of the terrorist attacks.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons increased by 732,000 to 7.7 million in
October. The unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage point to 5.4 percent,
seasonally adjusted, the highest level since December 1996. Since October
2000, when both measures had reached their most recent lows, the unemployment
level has risen by 2.2 million and the rate by 1.5 percentage points.
(See table A-1.)
The unemployment rates for most of the major worker groups--adult men
(4.8 percent), adult women (4.8 percent), whites (4.8 percent), blacks
(9.7 percent), and Hispanics (7.2 percent)--rose in October. (See tables
A-1 and A-2.)
The number of newly unemployed persons, those unemployed for less than
5 weeks, rose by 401,000 to 3.2 million in October. (See table A-6.) The
number of unemployed job losers not on temporary layoff grew by 518,000
over the month and has increased by 1.4 million since last December.
(See table A-7.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment dropped by 619,000 in October to 134.6 million, seasonally
adjusted, and the employment-population ratio fell by 0.4 percentage point to
63.3 percent. Since January, employment has fallen by about 1.4 million, and
the employment ratio has declined by 1.2 percentage points. |
