Payrolls drop by 125K, jobless rate falls
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Date: 7/2/2010 9:25:32 AM
Sender: CDP
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Payrolls drop by 125K, jobless rate falls
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer – 29 mins ago
WASHINGTON – A weak June jobs report offered the latest evidence that the economic recovery is slowing.
Employers cut 125,000 jobs last month, the most since October, the Labor Department said Friday. The loss was driven by the end of 225,000 temporary census jobs. Businesses added a net total of 83,000 workers, the sixth straight month of private-sector job gains but not enough to speed up the recovery.
Unemployment dropped to 9.5 percent — the lowest level since July 2009 — from 9.7 percent. But the reason for the decline was more than 650,000 people gave up on their job searches and left the labor force. People who are no longer looking for work aren＇t counted as unemployed.
The latest figures suggest businesses are still slow to hire amid a weak economic recovery. Many economists were hoping to see more private-sector job growth, which would fuel the economy by boosting consumers＇ ability to spend.
"It could have been worse, but it wasn＇t good," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, an economic forecasting firm. "It＇s adding to the evidence that growth has slowed."
People left the work force "because they think there＇s nothing out there," he added.
In a separate report, factory orders fell by 1.4 percent in May, the Commerce Department said. It was the first decline after nine months of gains and the biggest drop since March 2009.
The reports follow a slew of data and developments this week that point to slower growth in the months ahead.
In May, home sales plunged and construction spending dropped after a popular homebuyers＇ tax credit expired on April 30. Consumer confidence has fallen sharply. The European debt crisis has sent U.S. financial markets downward, lowering household wealth. And more than a million jobless Americans have been cut off from unemployment benefits after Congress adjourned for a weeklong Independence Day recess without extending federal aid.
President Barack Obama said the economy is moving in the right direction, but not quickly enough. He seized on the latest data to push for more government stimulus — including the extension of jobless benefits — to aid the recovery.
"We＇re not headed there fast enough for a lot of Americans," Obama said. "We＇re not headed there fast enough for me, either."
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