A weekly presentation of downloadable charts and short analyses designed to graphically illustrate important economic issues. Updated every Wednesday.

Snapshot for October 17, 2001.

Employment trend will go from bad to worse
The September 2001 employment data recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics do not reflect any of the economic fallout that resulted from the September 11 terrorist attack. In fact, anyone employed on September 10th or for just two hours anytime that week was counted as employed in the September data. The data do, however, show the preexisting weakness of the economy, as employment fell by nearly 200,000 jobs in September. As the figure below shows, private-sector employment was growing up until last March but has fallen in five of the last six months, for a total job loss of 766,000. In this light, the economic troubles caused by the attack (e.g., in the airline, hospitality, and tourism industries) have only exacerbated recessionary trends already present in the economy.

This week’s Snapshot by EPI vice president Lawrence Mishel.

Check out the archive for past Economic Snapshots.