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.
Statement of
Keith Hall
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Nonfarm payroll employment continued to fall in June
(-467,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.5
percent. Since the recession began in December 2007, payroll
employment has dropped by 6.5 million, and the unemployment rate
has increased by 4.6 percentage points.
Payroll employment declines continued to be widespread
among the major industries. In June, there were large decreases
in manufacturing, construction, and professional and business
services. Together, these three sectors have accounted for
nearly three-quarters of the jobs lost since the recession
began.
Manufacturing employment fell by 136,000 in June, bringing
job loss in this industry to 1.9 million since the start of the
recession. Motor vehicle and parts employment declined by
2
27,000 over the month; since the start of the recession, the
industry has lost 335,000 jobs, about one-third of its total.
Construction employment decreased by 79,000 in June. Job
losses in the industry have totaled 1.3 million during this
recession.
Employment in professional and business services dropped by
118,000 in June. Job losses occurred throughout the industry,
including temporary help services (-38,000), services to
buildings and dwellings (-17,000), and architectural and
engineering services (-14,000). Since the start of the
recession, professional and business services has lost
1.5 million jobs; temporary help services accounted for over
half of this decline.
Federal government employment fell by 49,000 in June,
largely reflecting the layoff of workers temporarily hired to
prepare for Census 2010. Elsewhere in the service-providing
sector, job losses continued in financial activities (-27,000),
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