U.S. loses 125,000 jobs in June; unemployment falls to 9.5%

The nation's employers cut 125,000 workers in June, with much of the decline attributed to the end of nearly a quarter-million temporary jobs for Census workers, and the U.S. unemployment rate declined to 9.5 percent, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday.

The jobless rate had been 9.7 percent in May.

Keith Hall, commissioner of the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, told Congress' Joint Economic Committee Friday that U.S. private-sector employment has risen by 593,000 so far in 2010, but in June it was 7.9 million below its pre-recession level.

The job-decline news did not hit some economists as hard as the number might suggest, because the loss of Census jobs was anticipated, and because some 83,000 new private-sector jobs were added in June.

Still, some analysts voiced fears that the nation's recovery may be slowing down.

In Colorado, the unemployment rate for May -- the most recent month reported so far -- was 8 percent, the same as in April. The state's nonfarm employment rose by 4,900 in May, the biggest one-month increase since January 2008, but the workforce also grew that month.

June's 125,000-job nationwide decline in non-farm payrolls followed May's rise in jobs of 433,000, fueled largely by temporary hiring of workers for the 10-year Census.

June's 83,000-job rise in private-sector employment follows May's 33,000 gain.

Among business sectors, the nation's leisure and hospitality industry saw a 28,000-worker rise in employment in June. Transportation and warehousing added 15,000 jobs, management and technical consulting added 11,000, health care and manufacturing each added 9,000, and mining rose by 6,000.

On the other hand, construction employment dropped by 22,000 in June.

The Labor Department report "supports other evidence that the economy has lost momentum in recent months, but that it is not collapsing. This should go some way to easing the markets' fears that a double-dip recession is on the horizon, at least for the time being," said Paul Dales, U.S. economist for Capital Economics in Toronto.

But Dales noted that average hours worked fell slightly in June and non-Census temporary employment, which he called "a good lead indicator of future permanent hires," rose by just 21,000, the smallest increase since September 2009.

He also said the decline in the jobless rate to 9.5 percent "was mostly due to a 652,000 decline in the labor force."

"Given the weaker tone of the recent economic news, this report could have been much worse," Dales said. "It is encouraging that the economy is still generating jobs in the private sector, although it is clear that the economic recovery has shifted into a lower gear."

Click here to download the full June report on jobs and unemployment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.


(Source : mharden@bizjournals.com)