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US jobless rate falls to 9.4%, fewer jobs lost than expected
Source: BI-ME and AFP , Author: BI-ME staff
Posted: Fri August 7, 2009 9:43 pm
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INTERNATIONAL. The US unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 9.4% in July as job losses in the month narrowed to 247,000, for the first time in more than a year, the Labor Department reported Friday, in the clearest signs yet the worst slump since the Great Depression may be ending.

The much-awaited nonfarm payrolls report, seen as a key indicator of economic momentum, was better than expected by private economists, who had forecast a loss of 325,000 jobs and a jobless rate rising to 9.6% from the June level of 9.5%.

The number of unemployed fell slightly to 14.462 million from 14.729 million in June.

Since the recession began in December 2007, about 6.7 million jobs have been lost, the Labor Department said.

The agency revised down the number of job losses for May to 303,000 from 322,000 and for June to 443,000 from 467,000.

Since the recession began in December 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 6.7 million, according to the agency.

In July, job losses remained widespread but were not as deep as in prior months -- about half the average decline for November through April of 645,000 per month.

The goods-producing sector lost 128,000 jobs, including 52,000 in manufacturing. But the agency estimated the auto sector added 28,000 jobs due to recalls from extensive plant shutdowns earlier this year.

The services sector shed 119,000 jobs including 44,000 in retail.

Meanwhile, the construction industry saw 76,000 fewer jobs for July, though the drop was less than predicted.

Analysts attributed the lower rate of contraction to the government's stimulus package, which helped boost infrastructure schemes.

Sectors adding jobs were education and health care (17,000); leisure and hospitality (9,000); and government (7,000).

The average workweek of production and nonsupervisory workers in the private sector, sometimes seen as a proxy for economic activity, edged up by 0.1 hour to 33.1 hours. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.3 hour to 39.8 hours.

On the negative side, the number of unemployed for 27 weeks or more rose by 584,000 over the month to 5.0 million.

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

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