Full text of U.S. Financial Data : June 7, 2001

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June 7, 2001

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ Output per hour (productivity) in the nonfarm business sector fell
at a revised 1.2 percent annual rate during the first quarter. The
preliminary estimate showed productivity falling at a 0.1 percent
rate. The bulk of the downward revision stemmed from a
reduction in the growth of output, from 1.9 percent (annualized)
to 1 percent. However, hours worked also was revised up slightly,
from 2 percent (annualized) to 2.2 percent. The reduced rate of
productivity growth resulted in an upward revision to the growth
of unit labor costs, from 5.2 percent to 6.3 percent—the largest
gain since the fourth quarter of 1990.
■ In April, the nominal value of new orders to manufacturers for
durable and nondurable goods declined $10.4 billion, or 3 percent.
Likewise, the value of manufacturers’ shipments fell $8.5 billion, or
2.5 percent. Shipments have declined in eight of the past 10 months.
But with manufacturers’ inventories only rising 0.1 percent in
April, the inventory-to-sales ratio rose to 1.42, its highest level
since July 1998.
■ After falling 182,000 in April, nonagricultural payroll employment
fell an additional 19,000 in May. Manufacturing payrolls plunged
124,000, the tenth consecutive decline and the largest since July
1998. In May, the civilian unemployment rate measured 4.4 percent,
down 0.1 percentage points from April.
■ Measured in 1996 dollars, new construction spending totaled
$725.4 billion in April, up 0.1 percent from March.
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.