Full text of U.S. Financial Data : May 10, 2001

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May 10, 2001

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ Following a 2 percent rate of gain during the fourth quarter of
2000, output per hour in the nonfarm business sector declined at a
0.1 percent annual rate during the first quarter. The first-quarter
drop in labor productivity was the first in six years. Unit labor
costs grew at a 5.2 percent rate during the first quarter, the largest
gain in more than three years. Measured from four quarters
earlier, labor productivity has increased 2.8 percent while unit
labor costs are up 3.1 percent.
■ Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits totaled
384,000 for the week ending May 5, a decline of 41,000 from the
previous week. Averaged over the latest four-week period, initial
claims totaled 402,500, down 3,000 from the previous week.
■ The index of U.S. import prices fell for the third consecutive month
in April, declining 0.5 percent from their March level. After rising
7.1 percent in 1999 and 3.3 percent in 2000, import prices have
fallen at an 8.2 percent annual rate thus far in 2001.
■ In March, the value of consumer credit outstanding increased
0.4 percent, or 4.8 percent at an annual rate. Consumer debt
outstanding is up 9.8 percent from a year earlier.
■ Nonfarm payroll employment fell 223,000 in April, the second
consecutive decline and the largest since February 1991. The
civilian unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to
4.5 percent, its highest rate since October 1998.
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
St. Louis. For more information on data, please call (314) 444-8590. To be added to the mailing
list, please call (314) 444-8809.
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.