August 06, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Payroll employment down in July

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in July.

[Chart data—TXT]

Nonfarm payroll employment was down by 42,000 in July to a level of 132.4 million, seasonally adjusted. This was the third decline in the past 4 months, resulting in a net loss of about 260,000 jobs over the period.

Manufacturing employment continued to fall, but July's decline was the smallest so far this year. The other major industry groups posted little or no change in employment over the month.

Manufacturing shed 49,000 jobs in July, bringing total losses in the industry since July 2000 to 837,000.

These data are a product of the BLS Current Employment Statistics Program. Find out more in "The Employment Situation: July 2001," news release USDL 01-245.