July 09, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Another large job loss in manufacturing

Manufacturing employment continued to fall sharply in June, and related industries such as wholesale trade and transportation also lost jobs. The other major industry groups had little or no change in employment over the month.

[Chart data—TXT]

Manufacturing lost 113,000 jobs in June. Since last July, the industry has lost 785,000 jobs, with nearly three-quarters of the decline coming since the end of 2000.

Employment in wholesale trade decreased sharply for the third consecutive month. Employment declines in this industry have totaled 42,000 since March, reflecting cutbacks in both domestic industrial production and imports.

Employment in transportation and public utilities declined by 11,000 in June. All of the loss occurred in transportation. Manufacturing's severe downturn continued to affect the movement of goods both by truck and air.

These data are a product of the BLS Current Employment Statistics Program. Find out more in "The Employment Situation: June 2001," news release USDL 01-206.