Full text of U.S. Financial Data : February 7, 2002

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February 7, 2002

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ During the fourth quarter of 2001, output per hour (labor productivity) in the nonfarm business sector rose at a 3.5 percent annual
rate. During that same period, unit labor costs (compensation per
hour adjusted for productivity gains) fell at a 1.1 percent rate, the
first decline since the fourth quarter of 1999. From the fourth
quarter of 2000 to the fourth quarter of 2001, labor productivity
increased 1.6 percent, while unit labor costs rose 2.2 percent.
■ For the week ending Feb. 2, initial claims for state unemployment
insurance benefits totaled 376,000. The four-week moving average
totaled 380,500, down 5,750 from the previous week and the lowest
total since the week ending Aug. 18, 2001.
■ In December, the nominal value of new orders for manufactured
goods rose 1.2 percent, or $3.9 billion. The value of factory shipments rose 0.6 percent, or $1.8 billion, after falling 1.2 percent in
November. The book value of manufacturers’ inventories fell $2.6
billion, the eleventh consecutive decline, but the smallest since May
2001. In 2001, the value of new factory orders fell 10.5 percent,
paced by a 27.5 percent decline in orders for computers and electronic products.
■ Nonfarm payroll employment fell 89,000 in January, the smallest
decline in five months. After remaining unchanged in December,
the index of aggregate hours fell 0.4 percent, or 4.7 percent at an
annual rate, in January. The civilian unemployment rate fell 0.2
percentage points in January to 5.6 percent.
All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
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Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) data base
on the internet at www.stls.frb.org/fred.