Business | Economy
US unemployment data sends better than expected signals
March and April job losses revised down to show smaller declines.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:43 June 5, 2009
Washington: US employers cut 345,000 jobs last month, the fewest since September and far less than forecast, according to a government report yesterday that was more evidence the economy's severe weakness was diminishing.
However, the Labour Department said the unemployment rate raced to 9.4 per cent, the highest since a matching rate in July 1983, from 8.9 per cent in April.
March and April's job losses were revised down to show a smaller declines of 652,000 and 504,000, respectively.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast non-farm payrolls dropping 520,000 in May. The unemployment rate had been forecast to rise to 9.2 per cent.
While the job losses in May were spread across almost all sectors, the pace of layoffs was slower than in prior months.
Payrolls in construction industries fell 59,000 after dropping 108,000 in April, likely as a result of the government's historic $787 billion stimulus package.
The service-providing industry shed 120,000 positions after eliminating 230,000 in April. The manufacturing sector purged 156,000 jobs in May, likely reflecting auto plant shutdowns in the wake of Chrysler's bankruptcy filing.
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