Unemployment Rate Hits 8.9 Percent in April
May 8, 2009
HispanicBusiness.com Staff
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According to "The Employment Situation for April 2009" released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today, the national unemployment rate rose from 8.5 to 8.9 percent in April, and non-farm payroll employment continued to trend down (-539,000) versus -699,000 job loss in March. April's drop in payroll employment followed sharp declines of 681,000 in February and 741,000 in January, as revised. In April, employment fell across all major industry sectors. Health care added 17,000 jobs and federal government added 66,000 jobs over the month, mostly temporary workers for Census 2010 preparatory work.
The number of unemployed rose to 13.7 million in April, and the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points to 8.9 percent, a 16-year high. Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 5.7 million, with most of the increase in unemployment (3.8 million) occurring over the past 6 months.
In April, the unemployment rates for adult men (9.4 percent) and blacks (15.0 percent) increased. The rates for adult women (7.1 percent), whites (8.0 percent), and Hispanics (11.3 percent) experienced small changes with respect to March. The jobless rate for all teenagers reached 21.5 percent and 24.9 percent for Hispanic teenagers. In April, there were 215,000 more Hispanic employed over those in March.
According to the report:
Employment in manufacturing fell by 149,000 over the month, with widespread job losses among the component industries. Three durable goods industries-- transportation equipment (-34,000), fabricated metal products (-29,000), and machinery (-22,000)--accounted for more than half of the decline. Since September 2008, manufacturing has lost 1.2 million jobs.
Construction employment declined by 110,000 in April, with losses spread throughout the sector. Over the past 6 months, job losses have averaged 120,000 per month, compared with 46,000 per month from December 2007 through October 2008.
The professional and business services industry lost 122,000 jobs in April. This industry has shed an average of 139,000 jobs per month since October 2008. Half of the April decline occurred in temporary help services. Employment in retail trade fell by 47,000 in April. Job losses in department stores (-14,000), automobile dealers (-9,000), and building material and garden supply stores (-8,000) accounted for most of the decline. Wholesale trade employment was down by 41,000 over the month, with much of the decrease among durable goods wholesalers.
Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 38,000 in April, with losses concentrated in truck transportation (-16,000) and warehousing and storage (-8,000). Employment in financial activities declined by 40,000 over the month. Job losses occurred throughout the sector, including real estate and rental and leasing (-15,000) and credit intermediation and related activities (-14,000). The leisure and hospitality industry lost 44,000 jobs in April. Health care employment grew by 17,000 in April.
Job gains in health care have averaged 17,000 per month thus far in 2009, down from an average of 30,000 per month during 2008. Employment in federal government rose by 66,000 over the month largely due to the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010 preparatory work.
Source: HispanicBusiness.com (c) 2009. All rights reserved.
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