August 05, 2002 >
In the latest employment statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate remained steady for the third consecutive month at 5.9 percent, according to the Department of Labor.

The number of unemployed people (8.3 million) remained unchanged as well, and jobless rates for men, women, teenagers, whites, blacks and Hispanics showed little change from June. But the number of people employed for 15 weeks or more decreased by 220,000, ending an upward trend that began in June, 2001.

The labor force and labor forced participation rate were also virtually unchanged, but the number of people who would prefer to work full-time but are currently working part-time increased by 278,000.

Also unchanged was the total nonfarm payroll employment, which has changed little since February. The services industries added 50,000 jobs and health services added 29,000 jobs across the industry.

Employment in the construction industry declined by 30,000.

The average workweek in nonproduction and nonsupervisory positions declined slightly to 34.0 hours. The manufacturing workweek also declined, to 40.7 hours.

Average hourly earnings in nonproduction and nonsupervisory positions increased by 4 cents to $14.79 in July, but average weekly earnings decreased over the month.

Links

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics