September 10, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.) Payroll employment in AugustTotal nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (+39,000) in August at 130.8 million. Since its recent low in April, payroll employment has edged up by 162,000.
Job gains in services, construction, and government were largely offset by losses in manufacturing and retail trade. The services industry added 100,000 jobs in August and employment in construction increased by 34,000 in August. Manufacturing employment declined by 68,000 in August; this compares with losses in the prior 4 months that averaged 18,000. Retail trade, which had shown little change on balance since February, lost 55,000 jobs in August. Payroll employment data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. The above data are seasonally adjusted. Data for July and August 2002 are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see "The Employment Situation: August 2002," (PDF) (TXT) news release USDL. 02-509.  Related TED article: Happy 10th Birthday, TED!The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far. |
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