US : The latest Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation

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The latest Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation
(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jec.pdf)
was issued today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The text is below.
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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 Standard Time.


Statement of

Keith Hall
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics

before the
Joint Economic Committee
UNITED STATES CONGRESS
Friday, March 6, 2009


Madam Chair and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and
unemployment data we released this morning.

The sharp and widespread contraction in the labor market
continued in February. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by
651,000, following declines of 681,000 in December and 655,000 in
January. Since the recession began in December 2007, job losses
have totaled 4.4 million, well more than half of which occurred
in the past 4 months. In February, the unemployment rate climbed
from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, the highest rate in over 25 years.

Manufacturing employment declined by 168,000 in February and
has dropped by 1.3 million since the start of the recession.
Employment has fallen in nearly all manufacturing industries
during this period. In February, manufacturing hours decreased
by two-tenths of an hour, as did factory overtime hours.

Full article here.