62,000 Americans get pink slips in June
Story By: Bea Karnes
Source: AP
Employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June. It's the sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, underscoring the economy's fragile state. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent.
The Labor Department's new report today shows continued caution on the part of employers who are chafing under zooming energy prices and are uncertain about how long the economy will be stuck in a sluggish mode, reflecting fallout from housing, credit and financial troubles.
The number of newly laid off people signing up for unemployment insurance rose sharply last week. The Labor Department, in a new report, says new applications jumped by 16,000 to 404,000, the highest level since late March when 80,000 Americans were laid off during the month.
The increase was bigger than economists were expecting. They were forecasting claims to rise to around 385,000. A year ago, jobless claims stood at 322,000. The four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out weekly volatility, rose last week to 390,500, the highest since early October 2005.
