September 10, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment rate rose sharply in August

The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point to 4.9 percent in August, the highest level since September 1997.

Unemployment rate, January-August 2001 (seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

The jobless rate had been about 4.5 percent since April. Its most recent low was 3.9 percent in October 2000.

The number of unemployed persons increased by more than half a million to nearly 7 million in August. The unemployment rates for most major worker groups were up over the month.

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. The above figures are all seasonally adjusted. Find out more in "The Employment Situation: August 2001," news release USDL 01-293.