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CNN Live Saturday

U.S. Unemployment Rate Rises in April

Aired May 05, 2001 - 16:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Fears of further economic slowdown are being fueled by the latest unemployment numbers. The U.S. jobless rate in April rose to its highest level in two-and-a-half years, due to massive job cuts. CNN's Brooks Jackson reports on which workers were hit the hardest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKS JACKSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Which jobs were lost? It was the biggest monthly decline since 1991, during the last recession; 223,000 jobs gone, but some suffered more than others.

Manufacturing, especially makers of industrial and electronic equipment, lost 104,000 jobs, bringing the total loss of factory jobs to half-a-million since last June. And temporary employment, or help supply services -- until recently, a growth area for work of all kinds -- lost 108,000 jobs last month. The temp industry has lost 370,000 jobs since September, a decline of 11 percent.

Construction jobs, possibly hampered by heavy rains in April, failed to register the usual spring bounce, meaning a loss of 64,000 jobs, when adjusted for seasonal factors, as all these numbers are.

(on camera): The job loss was much larger than most economists expected, a real shock, and reason to think a recession is still possible. But there were some bright spots, however few.

(voice-over): Eating and drinking places were hiring last month, adding 41,000 jobs after declining the month before. Oil and gas drilling, responding to shortages and rising prices, added another 4,000 jobs, and is up 17,000 for the year. Health services, long a growth area, added 14,000 more jobs. And strong growth in local government: an addition of 32,000 jobs, half of them teachers and other education workers.

And the figures provide new evidence that education matters. Though the unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent overall, it was 6.6 percent for adults with less than a high school education, but only 3.8 percent for high school grads and 2.3 percent for college grads.

(on camera): A final bright spot: earnings. For rank-and-file workers who still have jobs, earnings continued to rise in April. Weekly earnings are up 3.4 percent over a year ago. Brooks Jackson, CNN, Washington.

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