U.S. Economy Loses 62,000 Jobs In June For Six Straight Month

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A report released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday shows that in June nonfarm payrolls declined for the sixth consecutive month.

U.S. payrolls last month fell by 62,000 workers, while the jobless rate remained at a four-year high of 5.5 percent after jumping in May by the most in two decades.

Last month, the unemployment rate jumped up from 5 percent in April.

The Labor Department report Thursday showed the unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance, which tends to track the U.S. jobless rate, increased to 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent.

Over a six-month period, payrolls have declined for a total loss of 438,000 workers and the payroll in April and May was revised to 52,000 more jobs.

Any figure above 350,000 indicates that the labor market is weak; weekly jobless claims has remained above that level since the month of April this year.

The Labor Department stated that an average hourly earnings moved up by 6 cents to $18.01, which has increased by 3.4 percent from a year earlier.

The report showed that most job losses were reported in sectors including construction down 43,000, manufacturing 33,000, goods-producing industries 69,000 and business services 51,000.

The number of jobs gained in education and health services 15,000, leisure and hospitality 7,000, and government 29,000.

The four-week average, which is a less volatile measure, of initial jobless claims rose by 11,250 to 390,500 from 379,250 in the fourth week of June and compared to 378,250 in the week prior.

The four-week average was between 300,000 and 325,000 for much of 2007, which is a sign of healthy job growth, while it was below 350,000 for most of the first quarter this year.

Last year, the economy created as much as 91,000 new jobs each month on average.